Ministry of Defence: Lost Property and Theft
(asked on 26th February 2025) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, wheat information his Department holds on the number of (a) computers, (b) USBs, (c) phones and (d) laptops used by MOD staff have been (i) misplaced or (ii) stolen since 5 July 2024.
The Ministry of Defence takes the security of its devices seriously and requires all losses and thefts to be reported.
The figures for the period requested are:
| Computers | USBs | Phones | Laptops |
From 5th July 24 | 11 | 2 | 14 | 8 |
August 24 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 |
September- 24 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 8 |
October 24 | 0 | 2 | 37 | 19 |
November 24 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
December 24 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
January 25 | 0 | 5 | 124 | 7 |
Up to 27th February 25 | 0 | 2 | 145 | 4 |
Total | 11 | 13 | 356 | 62 |
It is important to note that not all the above incidents have resulted in actual losses or thefts. There are occasions where devices couldn't be accounted for, so were reported, but have subsequently been found.
The number of phones misplaced, lost or stolen is high due to 2 incidents being submitted by one art of Defence regarding the mustering of assets.
Although it appears likely that the cause is poor accounting, the phones are still recorded here.
The discrepancy came to light following the strengthening of mobile device accounting processes within that organisation, which will ensure improved record keeping and improve utilisation of these devices in future, with associated costs and wastage minimised.
Whilst we have seen significant improvements around laptops, due to the accounting errors in relation to phones, we have not seen similar improvements in this area at this time.