Commentary on Sections Retention, destruction and use of fingerprints and samples etc Section 23: National DNA Database Strategy Board
76.Section 23 provides for the Secretary of State to make arrangements for a National DNA Database Strategy Board. Such a Board already exists, and reports to the Home Secretary, providing strategic oversight of the application of powers under PACE for taking and using DNA. The principal members of the Board are the Association of Chief Police Officers, the Association of Police Authorities and the Home Office, but there is also an independent element to the Board from non-police bodies such as the Information Commissioner and the National DNA Database Ethics Group. This section puts the Board on a statutory footing and requires the Secretary of State to lay the Board’s governance rules and annual reports before Parliament.
77.Section 23 also requires the Board to publish guidance to chief officers on the circumstances in which DNA samples and profiles should be removed immediately from the National DNA Database (subsection (2)). Chief officers will be required to act in accordance with the Board’s guidance.