§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many beds have been stolen from the nursing and first aid stations on the Newcastle sites of his Department's Benefits Agency and Contributions Agency;
(2) if he will place in the Library a list of all items over £100 in value stolen from the Newcastle sites of (a) the Benefits Agency and (b) the Contributions Agency;
(3) what was the cost of stolen items from the Newcastle sites of the (a) DSS Benefits and (b) DSS Contributions Agency in each of the last three financial years;
(4) what computing equipment has been stolen from the Newcastle sites of his Department's Benefits and Contributions Agencies; and whether data on staff or claimants were removed with the computing equipment.
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe administration of the Contributions Agency is a matter for Mr. George Bertram, the acting chief executive. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from George Bertram to Mr. Jim Cousins, dated 28 November 1994:
PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS ON SECURITY AT DSS, LONGBENTON
As Acting Chief Executive of the Contributions Agency, I have responsibility for answering questions about relevant operational matters. As I have overall control of accommodation and equipment for all Agencies which share the Department's Newcastle site, I have been asked to respond to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Questions about the theft of equipment. Because of the nature of the questions I have combined the responses.It is over nine years since one bed was reported missing from a sick bay of the nursing facilities on the Newcastle site of the, then, Department of Health and Social Security.I have attached as an annex to this letter a list of individual items stolen and which were valued at over £100.For the financial years in question the recorded value of the items reported stolen on the Newcastle site are:-
- 1991–1992: £15,900
- 1992–1993: £8,778
- 1993–1994: £6,850
Separate figures are not kept for the individual agencies on the site. All Information Technology equipment is included in these figures.The computer equipment stolen has been stand-alone personal computers, printers, and a software package. Data on staff and customers is not stored on this equipment. The annex gives more detail on these losses.624WWe regularly meet with the Departmental Security Office and our Departmental Information Technology Security Group to address the current levels of security, exchange information and consider whether further improvements can be made. It is clear from this work that the current threat to IT equipment and other items from an increase in theft is the same for all governmental departments and commercial premises.Our physical security at the Newcastle site, which is 64 acres and employs some 9000 people has been reviewed in the last year. We have made a number of improvements such as the completion of the perimeter fencing of the site and the introduction of modern security equipment but we continue to look for further ways of improvement and are very much aware of this in our plans for the future.
Items over £100 stolen from DSS Longbeaton Reported Item missing 1991–92 4 April 1991 VCR 14 June 1991 ICL PC 24 July 1991 TV set 13 September 1991 Mackintosh PC 20 September 1991 Vacuum cleaner 4 October 1991 Fax machine 7 November 1991 £120.00 cash from unlocked drawer 20 January 1992 Two Protocol Analysers 13 March 1992 £180.00 cash from unlocked drawer 17 March 1992 231 desk tidies from store 18 March 1992 Monitor, CPU, Keyboard and Printer 1992–93 3 May 1992 Microwave from Bellway 11 May 1992 Apricot xen-s keyboard 18 May 1992 Microwave from Bellway 21 May 1992 £140.00 cash 22 July 1992 Multi-meter and rechargeable torch 28 July 1992 60 desk tidies from store 31 July 1992 £100.00 cash from drawer 2 October 1992 Two rolls of carpet 9 October 1992 Two hydroponic plant displays 12 October 1992 Microwave from store 25 November 1992 £152.90 cash from unlocked drawer 8 December 1992 HP Laserjet printer 5 January 1993 VDU Monitor 10 January 1993 One Siemens Nixdorf PC 10 October 1993 Once ICL DRS M55 PC 2 April 1993 Lap top computer 1993–94 28 April 1993 7 Feature telephones and adapted phone for hard of hearing 18 May 1993 HP Laserjet printer 29 May 1993 Portable TV/Radio from unlocked drawer 8 June 1993 Fujitsu dot matrix printer 28 July 1993 Two 14 inch TVs and two VCRs 9 August 1993 HP Laserjet printer 10 August 1993 HP Laserjet printer 13 September 1993 £100.00 cash from unlocked drawer 23 December 1993 "Apple" style desk top printer 30 December 1993 HP Laserjet printer 22 January 1994 HP Laserjet printer 15 May 1994 Computer monitor. "Thief apprehended"