To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many children in Solihull have their DNA stored on a database; and how many of those have been charged with committing a criminal offence. (141196)

As of 6 June 2007, there were an estimated 229,389 individuals with a DNA profile on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) taken by West Midlands police, of which 19,380 were under 18 years of age at that date. Information held on the NDNAD is available on a police force area basis only. Although the DNA sample in these cases was taken by West Midlands police, the individuals to whom the sample relates will not necessarily be resident in the West Midlands police area.

The purpose of the National DNA Database is to hold a record of a person’s DNA which can be matched against DNA taken from crime scenes. It does not hold data on arrests, charges and convictions—that is held on the Police National Computer. Information on whether under 18s whose DNA has been sampled by the West Midlands police have been charged could be obtained only at disproportionate cost by cross-searching the NDNAD profiles against records held on the Police National Computer.