To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many criminals convicted before the creation of the National DNA Database had given a DNA sample to police. (313456)

The National DNA Database (NDNAD) does not contain information about criminal records, as this is not necessary for its function of matching DNA from crime scenes with DNA from individuals. Criminal record information is held on the Police National Computer (PNC). The first conviction in a case where DNA profiling was used occurred in 1988. Between this date and the establishment of the NDNAD in 1995, DNA profiling was applied in a relatively small number of cases. We do not have any records of DNA operations which indicate how many criminals convicted during this period had given a DNA sample.

Data obtained from the PNC on 31 March 2009 indicates that there were 2,312,289 persons with a record on PNC added by an English or Welsh force who had a conviction, caution, reprimand or final warning, but no record on NDNAD. This includes individuals who have records relating to convictions, etc, before 1995.

Breakdowns of the number of persons with a record of a conviction, caution, reprimand or final warning on PNC, which show (a) that the conviction, etc, occurred before 1995, and (b) that the person either does or does not have a record on the NDNAD, could only be produced at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people under (a) 16, (b) 18 and (c) 21 years old had their profile stored on the National DNA Database on 1 January 2010. (317152)

The figures given in the table show the number of subject profiles held on the National DNA Database (NDNAD) as at 31 December 2009 for police forces in England and Wales. It is broken down by current age for people aged under 16, under 18 and under 21 years old.

The number of subject profiles is not the same as the number of individuals. A proportion of DNA profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates, that is, a profile for a person has been loaded on more then one occasion (this may be because the person gave different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests, or because of upgrading of profiles). As at 31 December 2009, it was estimated that 13.9 per cent. of profiles held on the NDNAD are replicates. As the replication rate is calculated across the entire database, it is not possible to apply it to the number of profiles in each age group, to provide the number of individuals in that group.

The presence of these replicate profiles on the NDNAD does not impact on the effectiveness and integrity of the database.

The data presented are based on a snapshot of the NDNAD as at 31 December 2009. The data on the NDNAD are constantly changing as records are added and removed, hence the figures are a snapshot of contents at a single point in time. The data are management information and have not been formally assessed for compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from each ethnic minority had a profile stored on the National DNA Database on 1 January 2010. (317153)

The National DNA Database (NDNAD) does not hold self-reported ethnicity data, however, it does hold data on the “ethnic appearance” of persons who have a DNA profile on the database. The ethnic appearance data have six broad ethnic categories plus “unknown”. They are based on the judgment of the police officer taking the sample and are recorded for police intelligence purposes to assist in subsequent identification.

The following table shows the number of DNA profiles on the NDNAD added by English and Welsh police forces, broken down by ethnic appearance, as at 31 December 2009. “Unknown” means that no ethnic appearance was recorded by the officer taking the sample.

The number of profiles held is not the same as the number of individuals. This is because some profiles are replicates—i.e. more than one profile is held for one individual. This may occur if, for example, an individual gives different names, or different versions of their name, on separate arrests. As at 31 December 2009, it was estimated that 13.9 per cent. of the subject profiles held on the entire NDNAD were replicates. As the replication rate is calculated across the entire database, it is not possible to apply it to the number of profiles of each ethnic appearance group to provide the number of individuals in that group.

The data presented are based on a snapshot of the NDNAD as at 31 December 2009. The data on the NDNAD are constantly changing as records are added and removed, hence the figures are a snapshot of contents at a single point in time. The data are management information and have not been formally assessed for compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.