To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of buying new (a) laptops, (b) mobile telephones and (c) personal digital assistant devices for new Ministers in his Department following each Cabinet reshuffle since 1997; and if he will make a statement. (156744)

If laptops are allocated to Ministers, they are usually from a central pool held within the Ministry’s central IT Department, and are returned to the pool when no longer required for re-allocation.

There were no purchases of laptops, mobile telephones or personal digital assistant devices for new Ministers following the Cabinet reshuffle earlier this year. Information prior to the latest reshuffle is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.