The home secretary Priti Patel is facing questions after 150,000 arrest records were accidentally wiped from police databases last week.
Fingerprint, DNA and arrest history records were deleted which could allow offenders to go free because evidence from crime scenes will not be flagged on the Police National Computer (PNC).
The Home Office said it was working with police to “assess the impact” of the glitch, which reportedly occurred by accident during a weekly “weeding” session to expunge data. It said no records of criminals or dangerous persons had been deleted, and that the wiped records were those of people arrested and released when no further action was taken.
But the Times said “crucial intelligence about suspects” had vanished because of the blunder, and that Britain’s visa system had been thrown into disarray, with the processing of applications having been suspended for two days.
The shadow home secretary, Nick Thomas-Symonds has called on Patel to take responsibility for the blunder and provide clarity over its impact. “She must urgently make a statement about what has gone wrong, the extent of the issue, and what action is being taken to reassure the public. Answers must be given,” the Labour MP said in a statement.
“This is an extraordinarily serious security breach that presents huge dangers for public safety. The incompetence of this shambolic government cannot be allowed to put people at risk, let criminals go free and deny victims justice.”
The government has insisted that despite losing access to a key European database after Brexit, Britain has adequate criminal information. About 40,000 alerts relating to European criminals were deleted from the PNC after Britain’s deal with the EU.
The PNC allows real-time checks on people and vehicles. Millions of records are kept on it, and they are removed automatically after certain periods depending on the nature of the offence, the suspect’s history and other factors.
One source told the Times: “This is potentially catastrophic. If the data has been deleted, police won’t be able to connect evidence at crime scenes to the perpetrator.”
The Home Office statement said: “The technical issue with the Police National Computer has been resolved, and we are working at pace with law enforcement partners to assess its impact.
“The issue related to people arrested and released where no further action had been taken and no records of criminal or dangerous persons have been deleted. No further records can be deleted.”
The Home Office is understood to believe there have been no risks concerning visa processing.
The deletion also caused chaos with the visa process. Applications, which are checked against the PNC, were suspended for two days but have now resumed.
A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “We are aware of an issue with the PNC and are working closely with the government to understand the potential operational impacts.”