Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February to Question 136627 on Police: DNA, whether existing police offices as well as police candidates will be included in that stronger vetting.

The Vetting Code of Practice sets out the standards of vetting which are to be applied to all police forces in England and Wales. This includes applicants to the police service as well as individuals employed by police forces, such as police officers, police staff and members of the Special Constabulary.

Guidance stipulates that successful policing candidates should be informed that their fingerprints are retained on the Police Elimination Database (PEDb) until an individual leaves the police force. Their DNA profile will also be retained on the Centralised Elimination Database (CED) until 12 months after the date the individual leaves the police service.