§ Mr. BercowTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence What new measures his Department took in 2001–02 to protect its property from theft or damage. [472511]
§ Dr. Lewis Moonie[holding reply Wednesday 10 April 2002]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 25 February 2002, (Official Report, column 682) which gave details of new and existing measures to deter and detect fraud and theft. It is a prime feature of delegated line management responsibility to operate procedures protecting assets from theft and damage. These procedures are always subject to review. They are enhanced where possible through central initiatives directed at the deterrence and detection of fraud and theft and the introduction of resource accounting arrangements. Recent developments include the promulgation of a policy statement on fraud and theft and the development of a programme of fraud and thef t awareness training across the department. Key controls, such as the maintenance of asset registers requiring a physical description of assets, spot checks and random searches, authorisation to remove assets from sites and physical security are underpinned by published guidance and direction.