To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 2 February 2009 to the hon. Member for Chesterfield, (Paul Holmes) Official Report, column 872, on departmental data protection, in what format his Department records information on staff dismissal for loss of departmental property. (259599)

Central records have been held since 2002 of all civilian staff dismissals and the disciplinary cases which lead up to them. Cases are recorded electronically under general classification headings, but those are not sufficiently detailed to enable identification of cases specifically related to loss of property. More detail about each case is recorded as free text of varying length which can be individually examined and which would include more detail about the precise nature of the offence.