My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Identity (Meg Hillier) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Further to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 25 July 2007 announcing the establishment of an Ethics Group to provide Ministers with independent ethical advice on the operation and practice of the National DNA Database (NDNAD), I am pleased to announce the publication today of its first annual report.

The report makes a number of recommendations around the processes involved in the taking, use and retention of DNA samples, in particular those taken from volunteers. I have asked the National Policing Improvement Agency and the National DNA Strategy Board to let me have their considered comments on the report’s recommendations as soon as possible.

The Ethics Group report can be viewed on the website of the independent Forensic Science Regulator and I am arranging for a copy of the report to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.