National Fraud Initiative

It is essential that public bodies have adequate controls in place to prevent and detect fraud and error. To this end we may share information provided to us with other bodies responsible for auditing or undertaking a public function in order to prevent and detect fraud and error. These include other public bodies such as the Cabinet Office, the Departments of Works and Pensions, other Local Authorities, HM Revenues and Customs and companies providing a service to the Council, where the disclosure of such information is:

  • Necessary for the purposes of the prevention and detection of fraud and error
  • To protect the Public Purse

The Cabinet Office is responsible for carrying out data matching exercises. This involves comparing (usually personal information) all of the records held by one body against other computer records held by the same or another body to see how far they match. This personal information could contain Special Category Personal Data. Data that is provided to the Cabinet Office for this purpose is:

  • Payroll data
  • Creditors data
  • Council Tax Support Scheme data
  • Housing Benefit data
  • Electoral Register data
  • Council Tax data
  • Taxi driver licence data
  • Residents parking permit data

This data matching allows potentially fraudulent claims, transactions, applications, taxes and payments to be identified. Where a match is found it may indicate inconsistency which requires further investigation. No assumption can be made until such investigation is completed. Matching helps to ensure records are kept up to date and accurate.

We participate in the National Fraud Initiative - a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. We will provide particular sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for each exercise as detailed in the Public Sector Data Specifications.

The use of data by the Cabinet Office in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (LAAA). Please note this does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the General Data Protection Regulations and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a Code of Data Matching Practice. For further information regarding the Cabinet Office's legal powers and the reasons why it data matches particular information please refer to the National Fraud Initiative Privacy Notice.