MPs told that calls from senior police officers will not be answered

The government has no plans to extend the DNA database despite the wishes of senior figures within the police force to do so, home office minister Tony McNulty told MPs today.

Speaking at a Home Affairs Committee inquiry, Mcnulty said he thought the balance of the number of people on the DNA database is "about right".

Calls from the police service for a universal DNA database were not going to become government policy, he said.

"I'm not convinced by the notion of a universal DNA database," he said. " Where we are now is where we should be."

The minister said he would be inclined towards not allowing the DNA of those who commit non-recordable crimes to be put on the database, though the matter was still open to debate.

Over the weekend Gary Pugh – who will soon become the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) lead on the DNA database - said children could be put on the database if they showed behaviour indicating criminality in later life.

Acpo has since distanced itself from the comments, saying that they do not reflect any official policy line.