Birmingham Heartlands Hospital

Bordesley Green East

Birmingham

B9 5SS

Tel: 0121 424 2629

11th October 2012

Our reference: FOI 2133

John Jones

140 Weardale Crescent

Billingham

TS23 1BG

Dear Mr Jones

Thank you for your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

The responses to your query are detailed below:

1)Does the Trust currently have a contract for I.T. disposal? Yes

a)If so, which company handles the contract?

WasteCare Ltd

b)When does the contract expire?

Open Contract

c)Is the contract advertised in the European Journal or other Purchasing Publication (Buying Solutions – local framework agreements?) – please detail

No

d)Does the contract cost the Trust to dispose of I.T. – or does the awarded company “pay” for the material?

The Contractor pays for material

e)If the contractor pays for the removal of I.T. – what are the typical costs? What are the last 3 months and 6 months worth of transacted business?

Rebates are outstanding

f)If the Trust pays for the material to be removed – what is the projected spend over the period of the contract?

Not applicable

g)How many PC’s. Laptops and Servers will the Trust dispose of between now and April 1 2013?

Approximately 150.

2)What involvement does the Trust’s Information Technology Services division specifically get involved in the disposal of IT equipment? Is this a piece of work where “estates” decide how material is disposed of?

The Trust IT department has control of disposal and informs Hotel Services which dispose of the IT as appropriate following WEEE Regulations.

3)How is data removed from Servers and PC’s prior to end of life?

PC HDD’sare wiped by killdisk (DoD 5220.22-m), Server disks are destroyed.

a)If a software tool is deployed, which tool is it?

Killdisk

b)Does the tool meet CESG and DIPCOG certification?

No

c)Are drives removed and destroyed? If so, who removes the drives?

Yes, by Service Support Oficers.

d)How long does it take per machine to remove hard drives?

Two minutes

4)Does the Trust donate any equipment to charity, good causes or staff?

No

If so, how does the Trust ensure data protection? Not applicable

a)If the Trust prepares a PC to be donated to charity, good causes or staff – how long does it take to prepare each PC and how does the Trust support any of the donated methods in terms of post donation to support? Not applicable

b)How does the Trust transfer any licences between the Trust and new owners? Not applicable

5)Who has overall responsibility for the disposal of IT equipment within the Trust. Please supply name, telephone and email details (NOT DEPARTMENTAL Information but the actual PERSON responsible).

ICT Operations Manager, Charles O’Brien, 0121 424 3958,

6)Can the Trust track all assets disposed of should there be a breach of data investigation? Yes

If so, how would an individual asset be tracked?The HDD serial number is linked to theoriginal asset which is recorded in the asset database to the original department and user.

7)How many incidents has the Trust dealt with in the last 3 years from data being found on IT equipment disposed of?

None

8)At what point during the IT assets lifecycle does the item become a zero cost asset to the Trust (When does the Trust write the asset off?)

IT items have a 5 year life attributed to them, the value will be written down before this if informed that the asset is broken or no longer used.

9)How does the Trust recognise any rebate back from equipment sold?

Rebate report from WEEE recycler received.

10) How many staff are involved with decommissioning services of legacy IT equipment?

One

11)Is decommissioning a process driven exercise (set standards and procedures)? Yes

If so – please supply procedures adhered to and staff training.

Please see enclosed. Training is given but is not recorded.

12)How old is I.T. equipment before it is disposed of?

IT items on the whole have a 5 year life attributed to them, the value will be written down before this if the asset is broken or no longer in use.

13)Who is the primary supplier of PC’s and Printers to the Trust – by which manufacturer?

Dell

14)Following the incident at Brighton and Sussex University and the ICO. Please detail the Trusts individual (name, telephone number and email) as the Data Controller for the authority.

Andy Laverick, Director of ICT and Chief Information Officer, 0121 424 2944,

15)Is the trust now more inclined to shred hard drives by a contractor on site or crush? And what are the future plans: before 31.03.12 and the next 12 months to destroy hard drives and data?

We will continue to follow the current procedure

I hope that this answers your query.

In line with the Trust’s commitment to openness and accountability, responses to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 are now routinely published on the Trust’s website

Please contact the Trust via the Publication Scheme address in the first instance, quoting the above reference, should you feel we have not addressed each aspect of your request to enable us to review our response.

If you remain dissatisfied with the handling of your request, you have a right to appeal to the Information Commissioner at:

The Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45

Website:

There is no charge for making an appeal.

Yours sincerely

Sandra Greenway

Publication Scheme Coordinator