Written question asked by David Amess (Conservative) on Monday, 1 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 3 March 2010. It was answered by Alan Campbell (Labour) on Monday, 8 March 2010 on behalf of the Home Office.

Personation: Essex

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how may offences involving the fraudulent use of personal information have been reported to (a) Essex and (b) Southend police in each year since 1997; and how many such reports led to a (i) prosecution and (ii) conviction.

Answer: The information requested is not available centrally. Offences involving the fraudulent use of personal information would be recorded under the Home Office offence classification of 'Fraud by false representation'. However, it is not possible to separately identify those offences involving the fraudulent use of personal information from other fraud offences recorded under that classification. As a result, it is not possible to state how many offences led to prosecution and conviction.

Secondary information