BURNHAM BRIEFCASE BLUNDER UNDERLINES LABOUR LOSSES.

BURNHAM BRIEFCASE BLUNDER UNDERLINES LABOUR LOSSES.

MP CALLS FOR REVIEW OF SECURITY PROCEDURES

Commenting on reports that UK Culture Secretary Andy Burnham left his briefcase containing confidential documents on a train yesterday, SNP Glasgow East MP John Mason has repeated calls for a review of how government assets and data are handled.

Earlier this month the Glasgow MP called for a top level investigation after parliamentary questions revealed an extraordinary tally of assets lost or stolen from UK Government Departments. The Culture Secretary’s mislaid ministerial reinforces the need for action.

Parliamentary answers to Mr Mason revealed that at least 1,660 laptops, 505 mobile phones and Blackberries, and over 700 other items of IT equipment have been lost or stolen from the UK Government since 1997. Notable items to go missing over the last year include two Treasury corporate credit cards; 3 works of art from the Government Art Collection, including one work entitled ‘Plague’ by R.B. Kita; and six spider phones and a Wacom Bamboo A5 Pen and tablet.

The estimated cost of replacing items was more than £1.6million since 1997 – though since several departments were unable to provide details of items lost or stolen, the true cost is certainly much higher. In the case of the Ministry of Defence, for example, the Department was unable to detail the cost of the 974 laptop computers lost between 2003 and 2008.

Mr Mason said:

“Andy Burnham’s briefcase blunder underlines the need for a top level review on how government assets and data are handled.

“We can be thankful that his case and the restricted documents it contained were returned, but it seems the Minister is not safe to be let out on his own.

“Earlier this month parliamentary questions revealed an extraordinary catalogue of lost and stolen items, from sat navs to Treasury corporate credit cards and even a ministerial car.

“In the wake of massive data loss scandals, these losses underline a shockingly cavalier attitude to security of assets right across departments. From IT equipment to art work it seems that nothing is secure.

“Of course, from time to time items are lost or stolen, but these figures are just mind-boggling. That the Ministry of Defence can lose almost a thousand laptops in five years is simply breathtaking.

“Indeed, it is not just the scale or cost of the losses that is disturbing but, in terms of IT equipment, there are serious questions about the security of the information they contain.

“These figures do not tell us if personal information – such as the twenty-five million child records lost by the government – relating to members of the public have also been lost along with the equipment.

“We must have a top level review of how government assets and data are handled. This should also sound the death knell of the government’s ill fated ID card scheme. If security it this lax why on earth should anyone trust them with yet more information.”