National Fraud Initiative - Fair Processing Notice

Preventing and detecting fraud

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 NFI on a regular basis. The Cabinet Office is responsible for carrying out NFI data matching exercises.  

West Midlands Fire and Rescue 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 NFI 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.