National Fraud Initiative
Bromsgrove District Council is required by law to
protect the public funds it administers. It may share
information provided to it with other bodies responsible for
auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and
detect fraud.
The Audit Commission appoints the auditor to audit the accounts
of this authority. It is also responsible for carrying out
data matching exercises.
Data matching involves comparing computer records held by one
body against other computer records held by the same or other body
to see how far they match. This is usually personal
information. Computerised data matching allows potentially
fraudulent claims and payments to be identified. Where a
match is found it indicates that there is an inconsistency that
requires further investigation. No assumption can be made as
to whether there is a fraud, error or other explanation until an
investigation is carried out.
The Audit Commission currently requires us to participate in a
data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of
fraud. We are required to provide particular sets of data to
the Audit Commission for matching for each exercise, and these are
set out in the Audit Commission’s guidance, which can be found at
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nfi/ 
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.
Data matching by the Audit Commission is subject to a Code of
Practice. This may be found at www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nfi/codeofdmp.asp.
For further information on the Audit Commission’s legal powers
and the reasons why it matches particular information, see
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/nfi/ .
For further information on data matching at this authority
contact Jayne Pickering, Executive Director for Finance and
Corporate Resources on 
j.pickering@bromsgroveandredditch.gov.uk.
