§ Sandra GidleyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of distraction burglary against adults over the age of 60 were reported in each year since 1997. [186615]
§ Ms BlearsWith effect from 1 April 2003, distraction burglary became a sub-category of "burglary dwelling" under the Home Office counting rules. Prior to that, data on the number of distraction burglaries recorded by the police were not routinely collected. However, data were collected from ad hoc surveys undertaken in 1998–99 and 2001 to 2003, which were reported in the 1349W reply I gave my hon. Friend the Member for the Vale of Clwyd (Chris Ruane) on 23 June 2004, Official Report, column 1415W.
We plan to publish the figures for 2003–04 in October this year. Data broken down by the age of victim are not available.