> but this doesn't work every time. e.g. when luValue = '08'

You could remove leading zeros:

lcValue = Alltrim("    0000800.00  ")
If not " " $ m.lcValue
  lcValue = Chrtran(Ltrim(Chrtran(m.lcValue,"0"," "))," ","0")
EndIf
? m.lcvalue 

TYPE(), EVALUATE(), etc. all have the disadvantage of executing VFP code. If I'd by called to a security review of your application, one thing I'd try is to enter

execscript('ZAP')

into the text field. If you use TYPE(), you can see that the table is ZAPped, because the code is executed. It's your decision, though. ;-)