Written question asked by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Wednesday, 28 October 1998, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 3 November 1998. It was answered by Lord Boateng (Labour) on Tuesday, 3 November 1998 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what length of time statements entered on the Holmes computer are retained and what arrangements are made for their archival storage when they are removed from the computer system.

Answer: Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what length of time statements entered on the Holmes computer are retained and what arrangements are made for their archival storage when they are removed from the computer system. [57479] Mr. Boateng: I understand that under rules developed by the Crime Committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers, information, such as witness statements, generated during a police investigation and entered onto Holmes, is retained on the computer while the case remains active and then transferred to magnetic tape for archival storage. Information relating to closed cases for which a life sentence has been awarded is retained for the life of the convicted offender. For determinate sentences, the data are retained until all the appeal procedures have been exhausted, until the release of the offender, or for six years, whichever is the longer. Information relating to unsolved investigations or closed cases of national importance is retained indefinitely.

Secondary information