§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what cost his Department has incurred during the last 12 months as a result of cloning of mobile telephones being utilised by his Department, with particular reference to the making of unauthorised calls; [23484]
(2) what use his Department makes of hand-held and car-based mobile telephones, what were the costs for each financial year of these services since mobile telephones were first introduced to his Department; and how many mobile telephones are currently in use;
(3) how many mobile telephones being utilised by his Department have been cloned during the last 12 months; [23432]
(4) what steps his Department has taken to prevent the cloning of telephones being utilised by his Department; and if his Department has discussed this matter with any official agencies; [23461]
(5) what representations his Department has made to the Department of Trade and Industry concerning the need for the legislation to prevent the cloning of mobile telephones. [23473]
42W
§ Sir Paul Beresford[holding answer 9 May 1995]: Mobile telephones are used by Ministers and officials who, by virtue of their work, need to speak to colleagues when not in the office. The Department does not keep central financial records for mobile telephones but there are currently 230 mobile telephones in use in my Department, of which 16 are car based, at an estimated cost of £74,000 for the rental per annum.
The information that we have suggests that 11 mobile telephones have been cloned in the last 12 months. Service providers have identified incidents of cloning and the Department has not been charged for the calls.
It is difficult to prevent the cloning of analogue mobile telephones but the Department will be discussing this issue with the mobile phone industry and will consider the further use of digital mobile telephones which are not easily cloned.
No Government Departments or official agencies have made representations to the Department of Trade and Industry concerning the need for legislation to prevent the cloning of mobile phones.