To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of computer misuse there were in his Department in each of the last five years, broken down by each category of misuse; and how many of those cases resulted in disciplinary action. [93042]
The Department takes any misuse of its information technology systems very seriously. All staff are regularly reminded of the Department's policy on misuse of IT, with detailed guidance contained in the document Acceptable Use of Information Technology available on the Department of Health Intranet.The table shows the total recorded cases of computer misuse within the central Department of Health. A more detailed breakdown of these figures is not available. Management checks indicate only a small number of the breaches involve inappropriate content.
| Type of misuse | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | Totals |
| Internet | 20 | 21 | 15 | — | 1 | 57 |
| 1 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 26 | |
| Internet and e-mail | 2 | — | 2 | — | — | 4 |
| Total number of cases | 23 | 23 | 26 | 4 | 11 | 87 |
| Disciplinary Action Taken | 22 | 22 | 26 | 4 | 11 | 85 |