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Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: ICT

Asked by Ben Obese-JectyConservativeDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural AffairsTabled Answered 21 July 2025UIN 46044

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many (a) phones, (b) laptops and (c) other electronic devices have been lost by their Department since 5 July 2024.

Answered by Daniel Zeichner

The following table includes the number of lost department-issued devices by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs since 5 July 2024.

Breakdown of department-issued equipment type

Number of lost items

Mobile phones

51

Laptops

8

Ipads

5

Please see below further information relating to lost/stolen devices. To note these figures are provided by Calander year. Also to note, Defra only started separating out Lost/stolen out in 2023.

Period

Phone-Lost

Phone-Stolen

Laptop-Lost

Laptop-Stolen

iPad/Tablet-Lost

iPad/Tablet-Stolen

Total-Lost

Total-Stolen

2025-30th April

29

5

5

2

2

0

36

7

2024

58

10

34

14

7

4

99

28

2023

96

6

54

10

5

1

155

17

2022

106

N/A

37

N/A

5

N/A

148

N/A

We are continuing to take steps to reduce the number of instances of lost devices including reviewing our current processes and policies to ensure that devices are handled securely, recorded accurately and returned promptly when no longer required, whilst providing users with the right tools for their job.

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