§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many meetings have taken place between his officials in the last year that discussed the replacement strategy for the police national computer; what is the state of readiness of any new operational specification; when he expects to announce a police national computer strategy; if he will place a copy or summary of the operational specification in the Library; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggRegular meetings are held between officials to discuss the replacement strategy for the police national computer. We expect to make a decision on this strategy during 1987. For security reasons we do not intend to make the operational specification widely available, and I do not consider therefore that it would be right to place it in the Library.
§ Mr. Cohenasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many names have been weeded from the criminal names index of the police national computer in accordance with the policy announced on 14 March; what was the size of the index on 14 March; and what is the current size of the index.
§ Mr. Douglas HoggAll records which have been considered for weeding under the old criteria are being reexamined in the light of the criteria announced on 14 March 1986. As of 31 October 1986, 23,059 names had been removed from the criminal names index of the police national computer by this process. The number of entries in the index is calculated weekly. On 15 March 1986 the index contained 5,089,272 entries; on 8 November 1986 it contained 5,138,826 entries.