To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Newark of 30 November 2009, Official Report, column 476W, on the DNA and fingerprint database, what foreign intelligence agencies have received DNA and fingerprint information from the UK (a) by making a request for mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and (b) through intelligence channels via Interpol, Europol or similar organisations in the last five years. (305478)

Mutual legal assistance is provided for the purpose of criminal proceedings or criminal investigations not for intelligence purposes. Home Office policy is neither to confirm nor deny whether a request for mutual legal assistance has been made or received.

The information on the amount of DNA or fingerprint material that has been shared with Interpol and Europol over the last five years is not currently available and could not be recovered without disproportionate cost. The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), which processes requests, is able however to confirm that since 1 January 2008, the DNA profiles of 150 EU nationals who have been convicted of serious offences in the UK have been shared with Interpol for comparison purposes, but not for sharing with member states.