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Written question asked by Chris Huhne (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 14 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 16 October 2009. It was answered by Alan Johnson (Labour) on Tuesday, 27 October 2009 on behalf of the Home Office.

DNA: Databases

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of (a) white, (b) black and (c) Asian (i) men and (b) women aged (A) 10 to 15, (B) 16 to 17 and (C) 18 or more years old were on the national DNA database in each year since 2001.
Answer

The national DNA database (NDNAD) is constantly changing as profiles are added and deleted. It is not possible to produce information retrospectively on the state of the database in past years, unless this was collected by statistics produced at the time. The information sought on the number of those on the NDNAD by the ethnicity, gender and age groups specified is available for 31 March 2009 and 31 March 2008 and is provided in table 1. Some information is also available for 31 March 2007, and is provided in table 2. The information sought is not available for years before 2007.The tables show the number of profiles held, which is not the same as the number of individuals. This is because some profiles are replicates i.e. more than one profile is held for one individual. This may occur if, for example, an individual gives different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests. As at 31 March 2009, the replication rate on the NDNAD as a whole was 13.5 per cent. The tables show data on profiles loaded by all police forces.It is not possible to calculate accurately the proportion of members of ethnic groups in the population as a whole who are on the NDNAD because the data held on the NDNAD are not directly comparable with census population data. The NDNAD does not hold self-reported ethnicity data on arrested persons who have a DNA sample taken, but on their 'ethnic appearance'. The ethnic appearance data is based on the judgment of the police officer and is recorded for police intelligence purposes to assist in subsequent identification. It uses six broad ethnic categories (plus 'unknown') whereas census data is based on 16 ethnic groups self-reported by individuals.

Table 1
Gender Ethnic appearance Current age as at 31 March 2009 Profiles retained at 31 March 2009 Current age as at 31 March 2008 Profiles retained at 31 March 2008
Female Unknown 10-15 1,855 10-15 2,929
16-17 4,116 16-17 5,099
18+ 89,878 18+ 83,266
Asian 10-15 914 10-15 888
16-17 1,598 16-17 1,384
18+ 33,839 18+ 27,807
Black 10-15 2,859 10-15 2,902
16-17 4,274 16-17 4,109
18+ 76,008 18+ 63,843
Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 10-15 83 10-15 93
16-17 203 16-17 199
18+ 9,340 18+ 7,472
Middle Eastern 10-15 70 10-15 50
16-17 89 16-17 84
18+ 3,290 18+ 2,689
White—North European 10-15 32,912 10-15 36,756
16-17 52,699 16-17 53,528
18+ 813,093 18+ 701,320
White—South European 10-15 636 10-15 617
16-17 868 16-17 721
18+ 17,621 18+ 14,330
Male Unknown 10-15 4,537 10-15 7,313
16-17 10,139 16-17 13,538
18+ 382,983 18+ 360,727
Asian 10-15 4,314 10-15 4,281
16-17 7,625 16-17 7,275
18+ 244,229 18+ 208,640
Black 10-15 7,277 10-15 7,038
16-17 11,242 16-17 11,062
18+ 310,471 18+ 274,282
Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 10-15 216 10-15 197
16-17 443 16-17 378
18+ 25,019 18+ 20,168
Middle Eastern 10-15 500 10-15 323
16-17 999 16-17 739
18+ 36,300 18+ 30,467
White—North European 10-15 72,265 10-15 81,248
16-17 109,096 16-17 114,249
18+ 3,115,325 18+ 2,790,097
White—South European 10-15 1,335 10-15 1,187
16-17 1,921 16-17 1,690
18+ 82,818 18+ 70,090
Gender not recorded Unknown 10-15 45 10-15 46
16-17 73 16-17 258
18+ 34,449 18+ 34,460
Asian 10-15 18 10-15 17
16-17 34 16-17 48
18+ 591 18+ 476
Black 10-15 44 10-15 26
16-17 33 16-17 34
18+ 487 18+ 376
Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 10-15 1 10-15 1
16-17 2 16-17 2
18+ 83 18+ 72
Middle Eastern 10-15 1 10-15 1
16-17 4 16-17 2
18+ 106 18+ 94
White—North European 10-15 336 10-15 419
16-17 458 16-17 475
18+ 4,868 18+ 4,289
White—South European 10-15 11 10-15 9
16-17 5 16-17 11
18+ 164 18+ 122
Table 2
Data as at 31 March 2007 Profiles retained
Current age as at 31 March 2007
10-15 151,882
16-17 206,449
18+ 4,069,684
Ethnic appearance (not including those with gender not recorded)
Unknown 415,793
Asian 210,801
Black 315,779
Chinese, Japanese or SE Asian 22,803
Middle Eastern 29,261
White—North European 3,316,161
White—South European 78,219
Gender
Male 3,524,657
Female 864,160

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
498 c287-92W; 294185
Session
2008-09
Subjects
Databases DNA
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk