Fraud

In response to the COVID-19 crisis the Government announced the introduction of grants to support small businesses and those businesses involved in Retail, Hospitality and Leisure. These grants will be administered by the council. 

The Government made it clear, it will not accept deliberate manipulation and fraud. Any business caught falsifying their records to gain additional grant money will face prosecution and any funding issued will be recovered, as may any grants which are paid in error. 

The council is required by law to protect the public funds it administers. We may share your information with other departments of the Council or other organisations where it is lawful to do so, for example to check the accuracy of information or to prevent or detect crime.

For further information on how we collect, use, share, secure and retain your personal information, and your legal rights, please see our Privacy Notice.

National Fraud Initiative (NFI) Fair Processing Notice

The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) matches electronic data within and between public and private sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud. These bodies include police authorities, local probation boards, fire and rescue authorities as well as local councils.

Public sector bodies are required to submit data to National Fraud Initiative on a regular basis.The Cabinet Office is responsible for carrying out National Fraud Initiative data matching exercises. 

This authority is required by law to protect the public funds it administers. It may share information it holds with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud.

Data matching involves comparing sets of data held by one body against other records held by the same or another body to see how far they match. This is usually personal information. Data matching allows potentially fraudulent claims and payments to be identified. When 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 the National Fraud Initiative to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. We are required to provide specific sets of data to the Cabinet Office for the matching exercise. The information required from all participating bodies is identified in the Cabinet Office’s dataset document.

The use of data by the Cabinet Office in a matching exercise is carried out using the data matching powers bestowed on the Minister for the Cabinet Office by Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 (LAAA). It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data matching by the Cabinet Office is subject to their Code of Practice.

Further information about the data used, your rights and compliance with both GDPR and the Data Protection Act can be found within the Cabinet Office’s Privacy Notice.

For further information on data matching contact the Counter Fraud Unit