National Fraud Initiative

West Oxfordshire District Council is required by law to protect the public funds it administers. In order to do this the Council may share information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds to prevent and detect fraud.

The Audit Commission requires the Council to participate in the National Fraud Initiative, a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud.

Data matching involves comparing computer records held by one body against other computer records held by the same or another body. Computerised data matching identifies potential fraudulent claims and payments. Where an inconsistency occurs, further investigation is required.

The Council is required to provide sets of data to the Audit Commission for matching. For 2008-9, data will be supplied from the following areas:

Payroll
Housing
Housing benefits
Council Tax
Electoral Register
Concessionary travel
Licences

The National Fraud Initiative has been carried out every 2 years since 2000 and has identified savings in excess of £300 million nationally.

The use of data by the Audit Commission in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under its powers in Part 2A of the Audit Commission Act 1998. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 1998 in order for the data to be shared with the Audit Commission.

For more details about the exercise, including how data is used and details of laws governing data sharing, see the Audit Commission's National Fraud Initiative section.

You can also contact Peter Yetzes, Head of NFI at the Audit Commission, on 0844 798 2222 or email the Audit Commission.