§ Lord Dholakiaasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is the basis of the estimate announced by the Prime Minister in his speech on 31 August that a DNA database holding over 3 million samples will cover virtually the entire criminally active population. [HL3868]
§ Lord Bassam of BrightonThe estimate is supported by theoretical modelling of the offender population carried out by the Home Office Research Development and Statistics Directorate (RDS). It represents an early estimate and is subject to modification in the light of research currently in hand in connection with monitoring the rate of growth of the DNA database.
Thus, while the present target is to populate the database with the profiles of three million offenders by 2004, the target may change during the course of the project to reflect best estimates of the criminally active population.