HC Deb 17 June 2002 vol 387 cc115-6W
Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to ensure that police force computers contain a complete copy of the electoral roll on their local force computers; and if he will make a statement. [59260]

Mr. Denham

The Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR's) Electoral Legislation and Administration Branch, Democracy and Local Leadership Division have published, for consultation, draft Regulations under section 9 of the Representation of the People Act 2000 in relation to access to, and supply and sale of, electoral registers held and maintained by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs).

Under these regulations the police forces in Great Britain and Northern Ireland (including the National Criminal Intelligence Service, the National Crime Squad and the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO)) will be able to request, free of charge, copies of the full electoral roll. The information contained may be used for the purpose of the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the criminal law.

Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether individuals who consent to the police taking their(a) fingerprints and (b) DNA samples are informed that if consent is withdrawn then the fingerprints or samples might not be destroyed; and if he will make a statement. [59268]

Mr. Denham

The police have the power to take fingerprints and non-intimate DNA samples, with or without consent, from people in police custody who are charged with, informed they will be reported for, or convicted of a recordable offence. In these cases individuals are informed as part of the custody process that their DNA and fingerprints will be subject to speculative database searches and may be retained indefinitely.

DNA samples given voluntarily for the purposes of elimination are only retained if the volunteer has given written consent. In such cases, the volunteer signs a statement giving their consent. The statement also informs them that consent cannot later be withdrawn. Fingerprints taken for elimination purposes may also be retained if the volunteer has given written consent. Under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (as amended) retained fingerprints and DNA samples can only be used for the purposes related to the prevention or detection of crime, the investigation of an offence or the conduct of a prosecution.

Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) vehicle, (b) criminal record and (c) combined vehicle/criminal checks were undertaken on the Police National Computer in the last year; and how many checks in other categories were undertaken. [59267]

Mr. Denham

From April 2001 to March 2002 a total of 26,546,892 vehicle inquiries were undertaken on the Police National Computer (PNC). A further 136,966 Vehicle Online Descriptive Searches (VODS) were also made. VODS are searches based on partial information.

Over the same period, 32,337,776 inquiries on names were made, with a further 67,631 inquiries on names descriptive searches using QUEST, a PNC application that identifies criminal records from partial descriptive details.

The PNC database does not have the facility to carry out combined vehicle/criminal record checks.

Checks in other categories include stolen property inquiries (99,256 checks) and property descriptive searches (2,572 checks).