Pollyana

Hi Tony,

The information is held on the Police National Computer, and the checks are done by NIS, which is part of the Metropolitan Police. If you need to discuss any of the info, (cos you think its held in error etc) you need to write to The Commissioner of the Met, at New Scotland Yard. It is all police information, and can only be released under certain circumstances, all governed by law (such as the Data Protection Act, which covers the checks for migration). bear in mind that one of the reasons why the information is so hard to get hold of is because of the need to protect the individual, and to prevent info on someone falling into the hands of someone else, who may not use it wisely.
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Scottish records are held separately, because most of their laws are different, although some Scottish convictions do get put on PNC (its a random thing, don't ask!!). The records are held by SCRO. Not quite so easy to find links to the Scottish forces, but try this one:

http://www.tayside.police.uk/index.p...ory=135&id=157

Hope this helps?

swiss tony

Thanks for that Polly, yes I agree with you in a way but its not even the actual info I am trying to access. It is trying to find out who HOLDS the data that the different police forces use.

I have had so many different stories as to who holds the info, who distributes it, who uses it etc. etc.

So you are sure it is the Met that hold this for ALL police forces in the UK?

Anyway, I will write to the chappy that you suggested, see what he says

Thanks!

swiss tony

Apologies for hijacking the original poting as well.....

h0pe

No probs!

And a great big thanks to Polly for putting my mind at ease!

Cheers
Hope

Pollyana

When someone is convicted it is the responsibility of the arresting force to input the info onto the PNC within a certain length of time. Responsibility for that bit of data rests with the force concerned. It is used by authorised users, who are almost totally members of police forces, and who have to be specifically approved for access. However the details can be requested by a myriad of other agencies for various legitimate reasons - ranging from the CRB to the Civil Aviaition Authority. release of the information is strictly controlled depending on who requested it and why.
I'm not quite sure what you're after with who "holds" the data - the paper records are kept by the force, the computer data is held on the database of the computer.
You might find this link interesting -

http://www.pito.org.uk/what_we_do/po...uter/index.htm

CornishPasty

I have lived in Scotland for 15 months, before that London. I called my local police station and they said that There are two seperate records, one for England and Wales (Police national computer), and one for Scotland (Scottish Criminal Record Office Computer). Therefore if you live in England, you can apply through any police station it doesnt matter, it all gets checked against the same system.

As I lived in Scotland for a while they recommended I apply for both. If no record of me was on the Scottish computer, then they would not charge me and they would then pass this on to the England and wales computer. I still only pay once. I got my Scotland one back yesterday, after 7 working days to advise me that no information has been found and that I will receive a reply from the english side in upto 40 days.

h0pe

For those awaiting police checks in London area: we received ours today after 24 days!

Thanks everyone!
Hope

CornishPasty

I got mine back at the weekend. 18 days....must be quiet times!