Scottish Government lost, broken or misplaced devices: FOI release

Information requested

1. How many laptops has the Scottish Government lost, broken or misplaced in each of the last five financial years? What is the total cost in each year?

2. How many smartphones/tablets has the Scottish Government lost, broken or misplaced in each of the last five financial years? What is the total cost in each year?

3. What is the most expensive item lost in each of the last three years?

Response

The table below provides a breakdown of some of the information you requested regarding devices which have been lost or misplaced. This is shown for Scottish Government staff and Ministerial Private Offices. An estimated value for the items lost or stolen is included, based on the cost of a replacement as opposed to the actual depreciated value of the item at the time of its loss or theft.

With regards to laptops, smartphones, and tablets which have been broken in the last five years, this is formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have asked for in this part of your request. The Scottish Government does not keep a record of devices reported as broken, all devices which experience hardware failure are fixed and replaced under the manufacturer's warranty.

3. What is the most expensive item lost in each of the last three years?

This would be a single laptop based on an brand new purchase as the combined figures below suggest.

The figures provided below are based on the estimated cost of purchasing a brand new replacement item rather than the value of the asset lost. Scottish Government do not record the value of lost assets.

*Lost means that the device has gone missing and not been found or stolen
**Mislaid means that the device went missing, was not stolen, and the device returned to its 'owner' and not included in the overall cost.
ITEM	LOST	MISLAID	ESTIMATED VALUE
2019/2020
Smartphone	39	4	£10,725
Laptop	4	6	£2,488
Tablet	0	0	£0
Total Cost			£13,213
2020/2021
Smartphone	7	0	£1,925
Laptop	1	0	£622
Tablet	0	0	£0
Total Cost	8	0	£2,547
2021/2022
Smartphone	19	1	£5,225
Laptop	1	0	£622
Tablet	0	0	£0
Totals			£5,847
2022/2023
Smartphone	23	3	£6,325
Laptop	6	0	£3,732
Tablet	0	0	£0
Total Cost			£10,057
2023/2024
Smartphone	26	2	£7,150
Laptop	12	4	£7,464
Tablet	0	0	£0
Total Cost			£14,614

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.