National Fraud Initiative

Lancashire County Council is required by law to protect the public funds we administer.  We may share information provided to us with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud.

The Cabinet Office is responsible for the National Fraud Initiative data matching exercise.

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.

The Cabinet Office currently requires us to participate in a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud.  We are required to provide particular sets of data to the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise, and these are set out in the Cabinet Office’s guidance.

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

Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a code of practice.

For further information on the Cabinet Office’s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information, see fair processing: National Fraud Initiative privacy notice.