(2) how much the Department has spent storing DNA samples with companies and organisations that analyse samples for the purposes of producing profiles for the national DNA database in each year since it became operational (a) in total and (b) broken down by organisation or company; and if she will make a statement;
(3) what information accompanies a DNA sample sent to a company or organisation for the purposes of producing a profile for the national DNA database; and if she will make a statement;
(4) how many DNA samples are stored by companies or organisations that analyse samples for the purpose of producing profiles for the national DNA database (a) in total and (b) broken down by company or organisation; and if she will make a statement.
The costs of processing and storing DNA samples fall to individual police forces and are dependent on the contractual agreement between the force and their forensic supplier or suppliers. This information is commercially confidential.
The information accompanying a DNA sample taken under Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 powers from a person arrested for a recordable offence which is sent to a company or organisation for the purposes of producing a profile for the national DNA database is as follows:
a barcode number from the sampling kit;
a police national computer arrest summons report number;
a force custody number (if available);
surname of the person sampled;
forenames;
date of birth;
whether male or female;
an indicator of ethnic appearance;
whether the sample is taken from a mouth swab or hair roots;
the date the sample was taken;
whether the sample is a resample;
a code number showing which police force took the sample and at which police station;
the ID number and surname of the police officer taking the sample;
one of the following indicators of the type of offence for which the person sampled was arrested: homicide; rape; robbery; other violent crime; other sex offences; domestic burglary; other burglary; theft of vehicle; theft from vehicle; criminal damage; drugs offences; other recordable offence;
exhibit number (if known);
police reference/crime number (if known).
Information is not held on the number of samples held by each forensic supplier.
[holding answer 28 April 2008]: I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Hornsey and Wood Green (Lynne Featherstone) on 13 December 2007, Official Report, column 761W.