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21 Feb 2008 : Column 922W—continued
Departmental Data Protection
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what audits his Department and its agencies have carried out in relation to personal data and IT equipment in each of the last 10 years. [176462]
Jonathan Shaw: DEFRA’s Internal Audit Division have not conducted any audits specifically focusing on personal data or IT equipment during the period. As departmental policy does not require business areas to undertake audits, information on any they may have carried out could not be collected without incurring disproportionate costs, but a thorough ‘wall-to-wall’ audit of IT equipment was carried out by IBM in October 2004 when ownership of DEFRA’s IT equipment was transferred under the terms of the IT outsourcing contract.
Mrs. Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what requirements his Department and its agencies place on contractors in relation to audit of personal data and IT equipment. [176625]
Jonathan Shaw: The Department’s IT services are provided mainly by IBM under an outsourcing arrangement. This contract includes provisions for DEFRA and its audit agents to have audit and access rights, including contractor premises, systems and records as may be required for the purposes of verifying the integrity, confidentiality and security of the Department’s data and/or personal data.
There are also provisions which require IBM and its sub-contractors to comply with all applicable parts of the Data Protection Acts, specifically the seventh data protection principle, which concerns the unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.
Other contracts awarded by DEFRA include standard terms and conditions which place obligations on contractors including requirements for access to audit and compliance with the Data Protection Acts as stated above.
Departmental ICT
Susan Kramer:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) male and (b) female members of staff in his Department
were issued with personal digital assistants in each year since 2001; and if he will make a statement. [181355]
Jonathan Shaw: The following table shows how many (a) male and (b) female members of staff, where known, were issued with personal digital assistants in each year since 2001.
| Date acquired | (a) Male | (b) Female | Unknown | Total |
| (1) PDAs purchased prior to 27 January 2005 do not have a purchase date recorded against their entry within the asset management tool and have been given a default acquired date of 1 January 2000. | ||||
Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the estimated cost was of each of the five largest IT contracts awarded in 2007 by his Department; and what the actual cost has been. [181961]
Jonathan Shaw: IT services and provision was outsourced to IBM in October 2004. IT projects that previously would have required the award of a contract are now, in the main, handled through these arrangements.
However, in March 2007 a new contract was awarded to Atos. The project started in April 2007 and relates to the Genesis application which handles environmental stewardship payments for land managers. The cost of this contract is £21 million over five years. Actual spend during the first year is £500,000 lower than forecast.
Details of IT contracts awarded by the Department’s wider Network are not held centrally. Further information would be available only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many of his Department’s personal digital assistants were (a) lost and (b) stolen in each of the last five years; and what the value of those items was. [185274]
Jonathan Shaw: The following figures show the reported number of thefts/losses of personal digital assistants from April 2003 onwards:
Departmental Information Officers
Mr. Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many (a) press and (b) communications officers his Department employed in each year since establishment. [182521]
Jonathan Shaw: The number of Press Officers in Core DEFRA is tabulated, with the census point for the number of Press Officers, taken as June for each year. The staffing numbers for the Press Office fluctuate during the course of any one year.
The figures in the table exclude numbers for ancillary or support staff, but numbers have varied, ranging from 3 to 7 during the review period.
| Staff numbers as at June | Press Officers |
The DEFRA Press Office provides services for the Central Science Laboratory, Government Decontamination Service, Marine and Fisheries Agency, Pesticide Safety Directorate, Veterinary Laboratory Agency, and Veterinary Medicines Directorate.
The number of staff employed in the Press Offices of each of the remaining DEFRA agencies of CEFAS (Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Sciences) and the Rural Payments Agency, in each year since 2001 is tabulated, with the number of ancillary support staff in brackets (The RPA did not have any ancillary staff associated with the Press Office).
| Agency | CEFAS | RPA |
In addition to support from the DEFRA Press Office, Animal Health (formerly the State Veterinary Service) employs a Head of Communications and an External Communications Manager.
The “White Book” of contacts in Government departments and agencies contains listings for DEFRA and is updated twice yearly.
Farms
Mr. Paice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many farms
there were in each county in England in each year since 2001. [185649]
Jonathan Shaw: The following table shows the number of registered holdings at June each year for 2001 to 2006 by county/unitary authority.
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