To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what property has been lost or stolen from his Department in the last 12 months; and what the estimated cost was of replacement of such property. (263112)

Items of DEFRA property lost or stolen are all recorded as ‘losses’. The following table shows losses with an estimated value (at the time of loss) of over £50. Figures are for 2008-09 to date.

IT services were outsourced to IBM in October 2004 and all IT equipment then became the property of the new service provider.

During 2008-09, DEFRA began a programme of hardware and system upgrades which is now almost complete, including the roll-out of encrypted laptops which provides greater security of Government data assets. There have been no reported instances of protectively marked or personal data being lost in connection with these laptop losses.