National Fraud Initiative
The Audit Commission - Data Sharing to Identify Fraud
Maidstone Borough 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 another
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 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 on the
Audit Commission
website.
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.
For further information on the Audit Commission’s legal powers
and the reasons why it matches particular information, see the
Audit
Commission Fair Processing Notice.
For further information on data matching at
this authority contact Brian Parsons, Head of Internal Audit on
01622 602058 or email
ku.vog.enotsdiam@REMOVEMEsnosrapnairb
.
The council tax data has already been
extracted from our systems and the electoral registration
information will be sent direct from the Election Office to the
Audit Commission via their secure website. The outcome of the
matching exercise will be known shortly after.
All data and information will be securely
input directly into the commission’s systems and not sent or put on
any portable media to ensure complete security.
The data matching exercise will
subsequently be carried out on a regular basis.
The appointed auditor for each local
authority will compare the sources of data and look
for discrepancies that will enable potentially fraudulent
claims and payments to be identified. E.g. to see if council
tax records show that the person liable for paying council tax is
improperly claiming single occupancy discount.
If anyone has any queries
regarding the initiative or have recently had a change of
circumstances whereby they are no longer entitled to the single
person discount, we would ask them to contact Maidstone Borough
Council’s Revenues team on 01622 602003 now.
This page was last updated on 10/9/2008