To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which police issue lost property numbers rather than crime numbers to victims of fraud. [114298]

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave on 12 May 2003, Official Report, column 72W. As explained there, since 2001 everyone who reports a theft to the police should be issued with a crime number and not a lost property number. This applies equally to reports of fraud where there is an alleged link to property such as a benefit book.I would be happy to consider this matter further if my hon. Friend would provide me with further background to his concerns.