To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they propose to continue to retain DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted in relation to serious, violent, or terrorist offences. [HL5223]

The consultation paper Keeping the Right People on the DNA Database published on 7 May 2009 sets out the retention periods proposed by the Government for consideration in compliance with the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of S and Marker. The research within that report indicates the propensity of some of those arrested and not convicted to offend in the future.

We have concluded that a retention period of six years for most offences is reasonable with a longer period of 12 years for serious sexual, violent or terrorist-related offences. As the consultation paper indicates, we believe that a longer retention period for the serious offences recognises the serious consequences of such offences and the implications of a missed detection.