Brent 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, or where undertaking a public function or in order to prevent and detect fraud.
The Cabinet Office are responsible for carrying out the 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 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.
Brent Council participates in the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative data matching exercises to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. As part of this, we are required to provide particular sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise.
The use of data by the Cabinet Officer in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit & Accountability Act 2014. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Data matching by the Cabinet Officer is subject to a Code of Practice.
View further information on the Cabinet Office’s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information.