As a publicly funded NHS Trust, by law we must protect the public funds. This means, to help prevent and detect fraud, we may share information with other organisations which are responsible for auditing or administering public funds, or where undertaking a public function.

The Cabinet Office is responsible for carrying out data matching exercises, which compare computer records held by one body against other records held by the same or other bodies to ensure they match.

This usually involves personal information and helps identify potentially fraudulent claims and payments. A match could mean there is an inconsistency which needs to be investigated; this could be an error or something else and not fraudulent. No assumptions of fraud are made until an investigation is carried out.

We take part in the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative, and as part of this data matching exercise, we must provide particular sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. More information on the initiative is on the website.

The Cabinet Office is able to use this information for its data matching exercise with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 and does not need individual consent under the Data Protection Act 1998. It is subject to a code of practice.

If you’d like to know more about why the Cabinet Office matches particular information, and its legal powers, you can read the full statutory guidance online. Or contact Charlie Nicholl.