§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations his Department has made to the Department of Trade and Industry concerning the need for legislation to prevent the cloning of mobile telephones. [23469]
§ Mr. Jack[holding answer 9 May 1995]: The Department has made no representations to the Department of Trade and Industry concerning the need for legislation to prevent the cloning of mobile telephones.
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 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. [23456]
§ Mr. Jack[holding answer 9 May 1995]: The Ministry and its associated executive agencies have a large number of field officers providing service to food, farming and fishing interests. They are often working in isolated areas away from fixed telephones. In order that the service they
203Wprovide can be fast and efficient, these officers need to be able to make contact whatever their situation. Senior officers travel more frequently nowadays and they, too, make use of mobile telephones in order to keep in touch and respond quickly.
Local management evaluate the business need and financial justification in order to decide who should be issued with mobile telephones. Financial, technical and procurement advice is available centrally.
The Ministry's estimated costs for service rental, excluding VAT, are broken down into each financial year as follows:
Financial year Service Rental (£) 1 April 1990 to 31 March 1991 8,640 1 April 1991 to 31 March 1992 45,630 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1993 96,120 1 April 1993 to 31 March 1994 222,480 1 April 1994 to 31 March 1995 379,620 The costs for call charges are available centrally for financial year 1994–95 only:
Financial Year Call Charges (£) 1 April 1994–31 March 1995 206,066 The Ministry and its associated executive agencies currently have approximately 1,400 mobile phones.
§ Mr. DonohoeTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, what steps his department has taken to prevent the cloning of telephones being used by his Department; and if his Department has discussed this matter with any official agencies. [23452]
§ Mr. Jack[holding answer 9 May 1995]: We are aware of the risks of analogue mobile phones being cloned. For this reason, the Department has issued an advice note to all telecommunications managers which gives advice on the more secure nature of digital mobile phones over analogue. To minimise the potential cost of cloning, one of MAFF's largest agencies has instituted a blanket bar on the majority of their mobile phones on international and premium rate services which will prevent unauthorised calls to expensive numbers.