National Fraud Initiative

The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) in Scotland is a counter-fraud exercise led by Audit Scotland, assisted by the Audit Commission (sister organisation in England). It uses computerised techniques to compare information about individuals held by different public bodies, and on different financial systems, to identify circumstances (matches) that might suggest the existence of fraud or error.

NFI allows:

Public bodies to investigate these matches and, if fraud or error has taken place, to stop payments and attempt to recover the amounts involved.
Auditors to assess the arrangements that the bodies have put in place to prevent and detect fraud, including how they approach the NFI exercise itself.

Since 2000, Audit Scotland's National Fraud Initiative (NFI) has led to the detection of fraud and overpayments totalling around £78m. Across the UK, since 1996, all such exercises undertaken by the Audit Commission have led to the detection of fraud and overpayments totalling nearly £1 billion.

Code of Data Matching Practice

The purpose of the Code of Data Matching Practice (the ‘Code’) is to help ensure that Audit Scotland and the Commission and their staff, auditors and all persons and bodies involved in data matching exercises comply with the law, especially the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998, and to promote good practice in data matching.

It includes guidance on the notification process for letting individuals know why their data is matched and by whom, the standards that apply and where to find further information.

Further information about the Code is available within the 'Related Sites' section of this page.

Privacy Notices

The Council is legally required to inform individuals that their data will be fairly processed (Privacy Notice). For the data processing to be fair, the first data protection principle requires data controllers to inform individuals whose data is processed of:-

The identity of the data controller.
The purpose or purposes for which the data may be processed.
Any further information which is necessary to enable the processing to be fair.

The Full Text Privacy Notice can be found within the 'Related Sites' section of this page.