§ Ms. GordonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the functions of the National Identification Bureau; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Charles WardleThe National Identification Bureau provides police forces with confirmation of the identity of arrested persons through the matching of sets of fingerprints; supplies details of arrested and convicted persons for prosecution, investigative and other purposes; maintains, to these ends, the national collections of fingerprints and criminal records; operates a national index of selected criminal methods; circulates details of wanted persons to forces through thePolice Gazette; and facilitates the exercise by members of the public of their rights of subject access to the police national computer under the Data Protection Act 1984.