§ Mr. Andrew TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for how long the Criminal Records Office retains information sent to it in respect of those for whom criminal records checks in connection with work with children are sought, in the case of data subjects(a) with and (b) without criminal records. [638821
§ Hilary Benn[holding answer 24 June 2002]Information that is received by the Criminal Records Bureau from individuals who are applying for criminal records checks in connection with working with children is retained on the database for a period of six months, after which it is archived for a period of 10 years. There is no distinction made by the Criminal Records Bureau in the retention of such data between those individuals who have criminal records and those who do not.
The Criminal Records Bureau has and is continuing to work in close association with the information commissioner to ensure that it adheres to data protection legislation.