Departmental ICT

Susan Kramer
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) male and (b) female members of staff in his Department were issued with personal digital assistants in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Bradshaw
At the end of 2007, there were 672 personal digital assistants in issue in the Department; 334 to male and 338 to female members of staff. It would incur disproportionate expense to provide the information by gender for each year from 2001 to 2006 as the asset register does not contain an audit trail of allocation to members of staff. Mobile assets are assigned and reassigned as staff join, leave or change roles within the Department.