National Fraud Initiative privacy notice
This privacy notice explains how Chesterfield Borough Council uses personal information as part of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercise.
The NFI is a national exercise that uses data matching to help prevent and detect fraud, overpayments, underpayments and other errors in public services. Appropriate safeguards are in place to protect personal information and ensure that it is handled securely.
What is the National Fraud Initiative?
Chesterfield Borough Council participates in the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), a national data-matching exercise.
The NFI compares information held by participating organisations to identify potentially unusual or inconsistent information that may require further investigation.
The NFI is administered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) through the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PSFA).
Who is responsible for your information?
Chesterfield Borough Council is responsible for the personal information that it collects and provides to the NFI as part of its statutory responsibilities.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is the data controller for the NFI data-matching exercise.
The NFI’s systems and data-matching services continue to be hosted and operated by its contracted service provider.
You can find further information about how the NFI processes personal information in the National Fraud Initiative privacy notice on GOV.UK.
Why do we use your personal information?
Chesterfield Borough Council provides specified datasets to the NFI to assist with the prevention and detection of fraud, overpayments, underpayments and other errors.
The NFI data-matching exercise is carried out under statutory powers contained in Part 6 and Schedule 9 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
The processing does not rely on your consent.
The lawful basis for the NFI’s processing of personal information is Article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), which permits processing where it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority.
What information may be provided?
The information provided to the NFI depends on the particular data-matching exercise and the data specification issued by the NFI.
The types of information that Chesterfield Borough Council may be required to provide include:
- payroll
- pensions
- trade creditors’ payment history and trade creditors’ standing data
- housing (current tenants) and right to buy
- housing waiting lists
- housing benefits (provided by the Department for Work and Pensions)
- council tax reduction scheme
- council tax (required annually)
- electoral register (required annually)
- licences – market trader/operator, taxi driver and personal licences to supply alcohol
- personal budget (direct payments)
The particular data items required for each exercise are set out in the NFI’s data specifications.
For example, payroll information may include name, address, date of birth, National Insurance number, employment information, gross pay, personal contact details and relevant bank account information where these fields are specified by the NFI.
Chesterfield Borough Council will only provide information required for the relevant NFI exercise and will not provide additional information simply because it is held by the Council.
Who we share your personal data with
Chesterfield Borough Council provides the required information to the NFI through the secure NFI web application or another transfer mechanism approved by the NFI.
The NFI may use the information for data matching with information held by other participating public-sector organisations and other organisations involved in the NFI’s fraud-prevention activities.
Where necessary for the purposes of fraud prevention and detection, NFI match information may be shared with relevant participating public-sector bodies and other organisations as described in the NFI’s privacy information.
Further information about how the NFI shares and uses personal information is available here.
How long is the information kept?
The NFI retains personal information in accordance with its Data Deletion Schedule.
Chesterfield Borough Council will retain any information it receives from the NFI, including match information, in accordance with the Council’s applicable retention schedules and legal and regulatory requirements.
How do we protect your information?
Chesterfield Borough Council and the NFI have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, alteration or disclosure.
Access to NFI information is restricted to authorised individuals who have a genuine business need to access it.
Information supplied to the NFI is transferred using the secure NFI web application or another NFI-approved transfer mechanism.
Are decisions made about me automatically?
The NFI uses automated data matching to identify potential matches between datasets.
A potential match does not automatically mean that fraud, error or wrongdoing has occurred. Further checks and investigation are required before any decision is made by the relevant organisation.
The NFI’s processing does not involve solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.
Further information
Please get in touch if you would like more information about how the council processes your personal data:
- contact the council's data protection officer