To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the legal basis is for schools (a) to obtain and (b) to hold records of pupils’ fingerprints (i) with and (ii) without prior parental consent. (112783)

Schools and local authorities are responsible for deciding their own policies relating to information about children which they wish to hold and use, subject to the relevant law on data protection, confidentiality, freedom of information and human rights. It is for each school to decide whether or not to collect pupils’ biometric data. A school may wish to obtain and hold such data for different reasons, so there may be different legal basis from one circumstance to another. However in obtaining and holding biometric data, the school is likely to rely on the broad powers contained in paragraph 3 of schedule 1 to the Education Act 2002 which gives the governing body of a school the power to

“do anything which appears to them to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of, or in connection with the conduct of the school”.

Pupils’ fingerprints should be handled in the same way as other personal data about pupils and are subject to the Data Protection Act 1998. Under the Data Protection Act consent is not the only condition for the collection and use of data and will not necessarily require schools to seek consent from parents about the use of biometric data, though it is for the school to ensure it is acting in compliance with the Act. However under the terms of the Act schools should provide notification of their use of data to individuals involved.