The following Data Protection Act notification has been provided by the Cabinet Office in relation to the National Fraud Initiative. We have provided data for this exercise. No action is required by either members of the public or employees of the authority.
We are required by law to protect the public funds it administers. We may use any of the information you provide to us for the prevention and detection of fraud. We may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing, administering public funds, or where undertaking a public function, in order to prevent and detect fraud. This includes the Cabinet Office, the Department for Work and Pensions, other local authorities, HM Revenue and Customs, and the Police.
The Cabinet Office is responsible for carrying out data matching exercises.
Data matching involves comparing computer records- held by one body against other computer records held by the same or another body to see how far they match. This is usually personal information.
Computerised data matching allows potentially fraudulent claims and payments to be identified. Where a match is found it may indicate that there is an inconsistency which requires further investigation. No assumption can be made as to whether there is fraud, error or other explanation until an investigation is carried out. We participate in the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative (NFI), which is a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud.
We are required to provide particular sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise. Information on the data that is provided can be found at NFI 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. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 1998.
Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a code of practice.
Further information on the Cabinet Office’s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information can be viewed in the privacy notice.