Written question asked by Baroness Featherstone (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 29 November 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 1 December 2005. It was answered by Andy Burnham (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 December 2005 on behalf of the Home Office.

DNA Profiles

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people who have not been charged or cautioned for an offence have DNA profiles stored in the police national database; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: There are 139,463 people who have a DNA profile on the national DNA database (NDNAD) who have not been charged or cautioned with an offence.This figure comprises: 124,347 people who have a DNA profile on the NDNAD who have been arrested and subsequently not been charged or cautioned with an offence. This information was provided by the Police Information Technology Organisation (PITO) and obtained from the police national computer (PNC) which is linked to the NDNAD; and 15,116 volunteer sample profile records retained on the NDNAD.A volunteer sample is a DNA sample taken from an individual in relation to the investigation of an offence for elimination purposes and not as a result of the individual having been arrested in connection with an offence. The volunteer must give written consent to provide the sample; and can also volunteer to have their DNA profile held on the database by providing separate written consent for this. Volunteer samples may be taken from, for example, the victim of a crime, a third party, a member of a population identified for an intelligence-led screen or from an individual at their request.

Secondary information