Registration plate fraud

Freedom of Information (FOI) Act request ref: 01/FOI/26/010198/W

Version Date: 31/07/2026

The Performance Analysis Department has provided the following information:

Date Source:

Crime information system – Niche

Data Collection:

Qlik Sense Report: Crime & Outcomes                                           

No-Crimes Included                                         

Notifiable Crime Only                                                 

Year (Apr-Mar): 2023/24 –2025/26                                                 

Home Office Code: 814/03

Qlik Sense Report: Offence Management v5.3                               

April to March: 2023/24 - 2025/26                               

Offence HO Code: 814 /03

Qlik Sense Report: Crime Outcomes                                    

Niche Crime Ref: As relevant from reviewed offences.

Data Processing:

1. Review Crime & Outcomes Occurrence IDs on Offence Management for secondary offences.
2. Dedupe Offence Management data by Occurrence ID and match in Crime & Outcomes data via Occurrence ID.
3. Remove Offence Records where there was a match from Crime and Outcomes, and review Occurrence IDs on Offence Management for other offences.

Timeframe: 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026.

Data Limitations/Caveats

Please Note: All tables show the number of unique crimes (investigations), not the number of offences. A crime can be linked to multiple offences.                                                                                                      

Please Note: Table(s) 1 & 2 show the number of crimes where an offence with the Home Office Code 814/03 is the primary offence, this is done by isolating either records at crime level with the offence code 814/03, or at offence level, where there are no other recorded offences linked to the specific crime.                                                                                                                               

Please Note: Table(s) 3 shows the number of crimes where it is indeterminable to reliably, decisively say if the recorded offence with the Home Office Code 814/03 is the primary offence.                                                                                                                                                                                          

Please Note: To answer this request there is a necessity to provide data from multiple sources, because of this, crime and offence data have been supplied separately, hence table 1 and 2. It is important to note that 'Crimed date' and 'Offence date' are not the same, an offence can be added to a crime after its has been crimed, therefore, separate tables are supplied, the data figures for these tables are denoted by either 'Crimed Year' or 'Offence Year'. It is possible that while an offence date could fall within the requested timeframe and therefore is supplied, the crimed date of the associated crime could fall outside the requested timeframe, and vise versa.       

Please Note: Offences of 814/03 are state based, whereas sexual offences are victim based, because of this, it is unlikely that a sexual offence would be recorded on the same occurrence as a 814/03, it is more likely they would be recorded on separate occurrences.                                                                                                                                                      

I am requesting data on the specific offence of number-plate fraud held by Devon and Cornwall Police.

This type of offence is recorded under Home Office Code 814/03 offence title "Fraud, forgery etc. associated with registration and licensing documents" under Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994 Secs 44 & 45. Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981 Sec 65(1)(b) & (2).

Please only include data on the specific offence code 814/03, not including wider vehicle fraud offences in this category.
 
Please break down the total number of investigations where 814/03 is an included offence, including where it is a secondary/less serious offence in the investigation.

Additionally, please provide a summary count of the number of those investigations which also include a sexual offence or drug offence (there may be crossover/ if one involves both then please count it in all three columns).

I am requesting the data from the financial year beginning in 2023 to the latest available data 2025/2026.

I would like the data in an Excel spreadsheet please. If you could please use the headings provided:
- Financial year
- Total investigations opened where 814/03 is either the primary or a secondary offence
- Number which also include (any) sexual offence on the same investigation
- Number which also include (any) drug offence on the same investigation

Please note that date has been supplied where HO code 814/03 is the primary offence. Due to HO counting rules, it is not possible to search on secondary offences. To do a manual of all possible crimes would be over the 18 hour fee limit.

In accordance with Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) – Duty to provide Advice and Assistance, we would like to advise you that the Force may not be the best source of information in relation to HO Code 814/03 and that you may find more accurate data available by submitting a new request to Report Fraud (formerly Action Fraud), please see link for further details: Report Fraud: New service from City of London Police - GOV.UK