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Written question asked by Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat) on Monday, 2 July 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 4 July 2007. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 July 2007 on behalf of the Home Office.

Genetics: Databases

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many profiles were loaded onto the national DNA database in each quarter of each of the last five years.
Answer

The number of profiles added to the National DNA Database (NDNAD) for each quarter of the last five years is set out in the following table . It is currently estimated that 13.7 per cent. of profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates, i.e. that a profile for a person has been loaded on more than one occasion (one reason for this is that the person gave different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests). Thus, the number of individuals on the database is approximately 13.7 per cent. less than the number of subject profiles. The presence of these replicate profiles on the NDNAD does not impact on the effectiveness and integrity of the database. Nonetheless, a long-term exercise is under way to identify issues associated with the removal of all such redundant replicate profiles.

Number of profiles added
First quarter Second quarter Third quarter Fourth quarter
2002-03 127,915 125,899 113,383 121,322
2003-04 110,049 120,337 106,326 138,585
2004-05 112,209 124,276 145,672 138,961
2005-06 156,685 169,133 184,936 204,391
2006-07 175,598 209,495 171,807 165,564
2007-08 154,496 — — —

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
147783; 462 c1393W;462 c1392-3W
Session
2006-07
Subjects
Databases Genetics
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk