Skip to main content

Written question asked by Clive Lewis (Labour) on Thursday, 23 April 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 28 April 2026 (named day). It was answered by Sarah Jones (Labour) on Tuesday, 28 April 2026 on behalf of the Home Office.


Police Custody: Photographs

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory requirement for the deletion of custody images where no (a) charge and (b) conviction follows.

Answer

The retention and deletion of custody images is currently governed by the statutory Police and Information Management Code of Practice, and the associated College of Policing’s Management of Police Information (MoPI) guidance and Authorised Professional Practice. These require forces to retain images only where necessary and proportionate and to review and delete them in line with assessed continuing policing need. Individuals are also able to apply to the police to have their custody image deleted, where they believe continued retention is not necessary.

Following the recent public consultation on biometrics, facial recognition and similar technologies, the government intends to bring forward a new legal framework covering biometric retention rules.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
129496
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Police custody Photographs
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk