Departmental Data Protection

Paul Holmes
To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many members of staff in his Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended and (c) dismissed for losing (i) memory sticks, (ii) laptop computers, (iii) desktop computers and (iv) mobile telephones belonging to his Department in each year since its inception.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry
Since the Department was created in July 2007, there has been one investigation into the temporary loss of a laptop computer. Disciplinary action in relation to this new case has begun, but is not yet completed.

The Department takes any breach of security very seriously and may take disciplinary action against those who commit such breaches. Policies and guidance on IT security are available to all staff on the departmental intranet. Logging into the Department’s IT system requires that staff agree to abide by these policies.