To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many laptop computers have been provided to (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in his Department in each year since 2005; and at what cost. (268279)

DEFRA outsourced IT provision to IBM in 2004, where the Department pays a service charge for provision and maintenance of desktop systems based on a usage model, i.e. we are charged for the number of laptops used on the estate each month as staff numbers change. DEFRA monitors the consumption of services rather the stock holding of laptops. Service consumption is managed in accordance with a device policy that limits users to a single laptop by default. Exceptions to the single device policy will include kit available for hot desks, training rooms, special needs/power users.

We are unable to provide a breakdown of past usage as this would require a manual trawl of historical data that would incur disproportionate cost. We have provided the usage figures for March 2009 for the core-Department for information:

(a) Ministers: two;

(b) Special advisers: two

(c) Civil servants: 3,301¹

DEFRA cannot provide information on the costs associated with IBM's laptop services, as this would put the Department in breach of its confidentiality undertakings to IBM.

¹ On the assumption that civil servants equates to end users—i.e. both civil servants and contractors working within the Department.