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| Ministers to unveil DNA data plan | Ministers to unveil DNA data plan |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Details of how long profiles of innocent people arrested in England and Wales can be stored on the DNA database are due to be unveiled by ministers. | |
| It comes a year after the European Court of Human Rights said the existing indefinite limit was unfair. | |
| The BBC understands the Home Office is to propose keeping the DNA of innocent people for a maximum of six years. | |
| Police say retaining samples has helped solve crimes - but human rights groups say the change does not go far enough. | |
| 'Unfinished research' | 'Unfinished research' |
| The European Court ruling last year said the system in England and Wales breached basic rights because it allowed police to retain indefinitely the DNA samples of anyone arrested in an investigation, even if they were later neither charged nor convicted. | |
| Northern Ireland's DNA database is administered separately but follows the same model and is therefore, in practice, also in breach of the European Court's judgment. | Northern Ireland's DNA database is administered separately but follows the same model and is therefore, in practice, also in breach of the European Court's judgment. |
| NATIONAL DNA DATABASE Profiles: 5.9mIndividuals: 5.1mEstimated proportion of replicate profiles: 14% Estimate for people neither charged nor convicted: 20%Crimes solved with database's help: 32,200 (0.68% of all crime) Profiles removed March-Oct 2009: 255 Source: Home Office/Parliamentary questions | NATIONAL DNA DATABASE Profiles: 5.9mIndividuals: 5.1mEstimated proportion of replicate profiles: 14% Estimate for people neither charged nor convicted: 20%Crimes solved with database's help: 32,200 (0.68% of all crime) Profiles removed March-Oct 2009: 255 Source: Home Office/Parliamentary questions |
| Scotland's part of the database was given the all clear because police delete DNA profiles of most people who are not convicted. In all four parts of the UK, police take DNA swabs from suspects shortly after their arrest. | Scotland's part of the database was given the all clear because police delete DNA profiles of most people who are not convicted. In all four parts of the UK, police take DNA swabs from suspects shortly after their arrest. |
| The Home Office has already deleted the profiles of children under 10 years old to comply with the European Court's ruling, but has been considering how to deal with the rest of the estimated one million samples from people who have not been convicted. | The Home Office has already deleted the profiles of children under 10 years old to comply with the European Court's ruling, but has been considering how to deal with the rest of the estimated one million samples from people who have not been convicted. |
| Earlier this year it proposed time limits of six or 12 years depending on the nature of the crime for which a suspect had been arrested. | Earlier this year it proposed time limits of six or 12 years depending on the nature of the crime for which a suspect had been arrested. |
| These figures were drawn from research by the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science. | These figures were drawn from research by the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science. |
| Its director subsequently accused the Home Office of basing the proposals on unfinished research which did not prove the case for any particular time limit. | Its director subsequently accused the Home Office of basing the proposals on unfinished research which did not prove the case for any particular time limit. |
| The proposals being outlined later on Wednesday are expected to discount the 12 year figure and propose different rules for the under-18s. | The proposals being outlined later on Wednesday are expected to discount the 12 year figure and propose different rules for the under-18s. |
| But the Equality and Human Rights Commission said such a proposal would not meet requirements set by the court ruling that data should be held only when there were "clear, justifiable reasons" for doing so. | But the Equality and Human Rights Commission said such a proposal would not meet requirements set by the court ruling that data should be held only when there were "clear, justifiable reasons" for doing so. |
| And the Home Office's proposals will anger the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats who want a Parliamentary vote on the database. | And the Home Office's proposals will anger the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats who want a Parliamentary vote on the database. |
| Legislation only covers the police's power to take and store samples, not the workings of the database itself. Both opposition parties have sought to amend the databases in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland to follow the Scottish model. | Legislation only covers the police's power to take and store samples, not the workings of the database itself. Both opposition parties have sought to amend the databases in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland to follow the Scottish model. |
| There are no reliable figures on how many crimes have been solved solely because someone cleared of one offence has been later linked to another through their DNA. | There are no reliable figures on how many crimes have been solved solely because someone cleared of one offence has been later linked to another through their DNA. |
| One recent government figure suggests that less than 1% of all recorded crime is solved with the database's help - although most police investigations do not involve DNA at all. | One recent government figure suggests that less than 1% of all recorded crime is solved with the database's help - although most police investigations do not involve DNA at all. |