Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Jenny Willott (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 3 December 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 8 December 2008. It was answered by Alan Campbell (Labour) on Wednesday, 17 December 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Genetics: Databases

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) on how many occasions personal information and DNA samples which (a) were planned to be loaded onto and (b) had been loaded onto the national DNA database have been lost; and if she will make a statement;
Answer

DNA samples taken by police forces are sent to accredited forensic suppliers for processing, to produce a profile for loading on the National DNA Database (NDNAD). On behalf of the NDNAD Strategy Board, the Custodian sets the technical and procedural standards to which the laboratories must adhere and monitors their performance against these standards. These standards are all contained within the Custodian's quality management system and shared with the laboratories. Security measures on the NDNAD itself are also managed by the Custodian.Direct access to information on the NDNAD is restricted to a limited number of designated personnel under the control of the Custodian, either directly, or under a contract awarded by the Home Office to the Forensic Science Service (FSS) for operation and maintenance of the NDNAD and development of its IT systems. Throughout the lifetime of the contract, the FSS are required to demonstrate compliance with specified security requirements.Police and law enforcement personnel do not have access to the information on the NDNAD, but receive reports from the Custodian's staff of matches between DNA taken from crime scenes and that taken from individuals.There has been one incident affecting DNA profiles which were to be loaded onto the NDNAD. This was the recent occasion when a disc containing profiles taken from crime scenes in the Netherlands was mislaid and subsequently recovered, though it never left the secure premises of the Crown Prosecution Service. The disc did not contain any personal information, as the DNA profiles were left by unknown persons at crime scenes in the Netherlands.There have been no incidents when data loaded onto the NDNAD has been lost.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
485 c859W; 240305
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Databases DNA
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk