Fraud prevention and detection

What does the council do to prevent fraud?

We have a number of measures in place to prevent and detect fraud. These measures are set out in our Anti-Fraud policy.

If you suspect fraud is being committed you can report fraud a number of ways.

What will the council do if it thinks fraud is being committed?

We are required by law to protect the public funds we administer. If we suspect fraud we will investigate.

How does this affect me?

As part of dealing with fraud we may share your information with other organisations for the purpose of data matching. We will only do this in order to prevent and detect fraud.

What is data matching?

Data matching involves comparing our records against those held by other organisations.

Data matching helps to identify fraudulent claims and payments. Where a match is found it indicates that there is an inconsistency which requires further investigation.

National Fraud Initiative (NFI)

The Cabinet Office appoints the auditor to audit our accounts. It is also responsible for carrying out data matching exercises.

The National Fraud Initiative is the Cabinet Office’s data matching exercise to prevent and detect fraud.

As part of the National Fraud Initiative we are required to provide particular sets of data to the Cabinet Office for data matching. This does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the General Data Protection Regulation. You can find out more about data matching by visiting Gov.uk website - data matching. Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to a Code of Practice.

The results of the Cabinet Office's data matching will be shared with us. We then review them to determine whether any fraud has taken place.

Further information on the Cabinet Office’s legal powers, and the reasons it matches particular information, can be found by visiting Gov.uk website - Cabinet Office legal powers.

What will the council do if fraud has taken place?

If fraud has taken place we will look to recover the money that we have lost. We will then consider whether any further action needs to be taken. This could include criminal proceedings.

You can find out more about how we deal with fraud on out tackling fraud page.