Sharing information to detect fraud

Tameside Council has a duty to protect public money and one of the ways it does this is to use information it holds for the purposes of the prevention or detection of fraud and error.  We also share information with other public bodies for these same purposes.  The Cabinet Office is responsible for the National Fraud Initiative, known as NFI, which is a data matching exercise that has operated since 1996. The Council is required to participate in the NFI 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 - these are set out in the Cabinet Office’s guidance, which can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-fraud-initiative  The use of data by the Cabinet Office in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under its powers in 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) or the Data Protection Act 2018. You can find out more at https://www.tameside.gov.uk/TamesideMBC/media/foi/NATIONALFRAUDINITIATIVE.pdf