§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many sets of fingerprints are currently being held in the National Fingerprint Collection at Scotland Yard; and what is the number of prints being held, exclusive of those relating to individuals who have been tried and convicted or are awaiting trial;
(2) how many people have been fingerprinted by the police under the powers granted to the police by the Prevention of Terrorism Act; and how many sets of fingerprints taken from persons temporarily detained but not charged with any offence under the Prevention of Terrorism Act have been retained by local police forces or/and in the National Fingerprint Collection held at Scotland Yard.
478W
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsOn 28th August sets of fingerprints of 2,484,437 people were being held centrally at New Scotland Yard. Of these, 2,482,857 sets belonged to persons tried and convicted over a period of some 40 years, or awaiting trial, for criminal offences not related to terrorism.
The remaining 1,580 related to people who had been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act. It would not be possible without disproportionate effort to state how many of these were charged with criminal offences—not necessarily under the Prevention of Terrorism Acts—and were convicted or are awaiting trial, how many of them were made subject to exclusion orders, or how many were released from detention without being charged.