§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which statutory provisions govern the length of time criminal records are retained by the police; and what plans he has to define retention criteria on the basis of those outlined in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. [7550]
§ Mr. MacleanThere are no statutory provisions which govern the length of time criminal records are retained by the police. To ensure compliance with the data protection principles set out in the Data Protection Act 1984, the Association of Chief Police Officers—ACPO—issued a code of practice for police computer systems which includes guidelines on the removal of criminal record data when they are no longer required.
There are no plans to define the retention criteria on the basis of the rehabilitation periods set out in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
The police hold criminal record information for various purposes, including crime prevention and detection and in order to supply antecedent information to the courts. Conviction information retains its value for these purposes for much longer then the rehabilitation periods set out in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the items of personal data from the Phoenix system which would be disclosed(a) to data subjects via subject access and (b) to applicants on a criminal record certificate under the Data Protection Act 1984. [7551]
§ Mr. MacleanUnder the terms of the Data Protection Act 1984 individuals have the right, providing considerations of crime prevention do not arise, to see what information is held about them on Phoenix, the criminal records database on the police national computer. Subject to these considerations, data disclosed from Phoenix for subject access purposes would include name, address, sex, age, physical description, prosecution and conviction history, cautions, aliases, and modus operandi.
Criminal record certificates are not currently available. Under proposals being taken forward in the Police Bill, three types of certificate would be issued for employment 139W and related purposes. In relation to the Phoenix database, criminal conviction certificates would show details of convictions which are "unspent" under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974; criminal record certificates and enhanced certificates, which would be available only for occupations and offices which are exceptions to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, would show details of convictions and cautions.
§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of the population under the age of 35 years have a criminal record; and what proportion of these are male; [7548]
(2) how many individuals have criminal records which will never be spent under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. [7547]
§ Mr. MacleanInformation available centrally on the percentage of the population with a criminal record relates to conviction for standard list offences only. Standard list offences include all indictable offences—including those triable either way—plus the more serious summary offences.
Results from criminal histories of a sample of offenders born in 1953 indicate that 21 per cent. of the population born in that year were convicted of at least one standard list offence before the age of 35. Of these, 82 per cent. were male. This analysis also indicates that 0.4 per cent. of the population born in 1953 had a conviction by age 35 that will never be spent.