12.1. IT equipment

• The IT department will dispose of all IT equipment, using specialised software and procedures, to ensure that any confidential data is removed in such a way that it would make reconstruction unlikely. 
• Disposal will comply with environmental regulations including the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE Directive). 
• Portable storage devices such as laptops must be given to a member of the IT team for removal of any sensitive information they may hold when the devices are no longer required. Staff should no longer hold any USB sticks, but if they do, they should be given to a member of the IT team for removal of sensitive data and disposal.

12.2. Furniture

• Any filing cabinets or cupboards which are being disposed of will be checked first for confidential information, electronic storage media, etc.

12.3. Papers

• Casework correspondence will be returned to the sender or destroyed by Intake 12 weeks after it is scanned onto ECHO. See 7.2 for more details.
• Hard copies will be destroyed by the case owner when they close the case (see also Home and mobile working). 
• Any remaining paper files on cases closed before ECHO will be kept in locked secure storage until destroyed in accordance with the Retention and Disposal of Casework Records Policy.
• Destruction will either be by shredding the hard copies or placing them in secure confidential waste bins within our offices for off-site shredding. These must not be overfilled. 
• Records containing personal data will not be retained beyond the periods specified in the relevant retention schedule.