Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many ministerial red boxes belonging to his Department have (a) been reported missing or lost or (b) had their security features removed in order that they can be purchased for personal use by former ministers from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2023.

The Departmental Security Unit records and investigates each reported loss from the Department. If appropriate, the police are invited to undertake further inquiries. It is a long standing convention under successive administrations that Ministers may pay to retain red boxes as a memento of their time in their role, as long as the security features are removed.

No ministerial boxes have been reported lost or missing to the Department’s Security Unit since 2018. One ministerial box has been purchased and the security feature was removed.