Question

To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what data her Department holds on the (a) number and (b) total cost of replacing (i) laptops, (ii) mobile phones, (iii) memory sticks and (iv) external hard drives that have been (A) lost and (B) stolen in the last year.

For management and staffing purposes, the Equality Hub is an integrated part of the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office provides laptops and mobile phones to over 10,000 users in 2023-24. The Cabinet Office supplies fully security encrypted mobiles and laptops. We do not issue memory sticks or external drives.

There are occasional incidents where equipment is reported lost or stolen. Staff are required to report such incidents, and cases are investigated. Any loss is unfortunate and should be avoided, but invariably reflects that such devices may be taken out of a workplace environment.

The following table includes the numbers and costs related to the lost/stolen devices for the Cabinet Office as a whole.

*Some devices not approved for replacement

Given steps taken to secure information, we do not believe there has been any data loss or compromise as a result of these losses.