National Fraud Initiative

The Council must protect the public funds it administers and may use creditor payment information for the prevention and detection of fraud.  It may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes. The Cabinet Office appoints the auditor to audit the accounts of this Council.

The Cabinet Office is also responsible for carrying out data matching exercises. This 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.

The council take part in the Cabinet Office’s National Fraud Initiative, a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. The council must provide sets of data to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise. The use of data by the Cabinet Office in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under Part 6 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data matching by the Cabinet Office 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.

Transparency

The Department for Communities and Local Government has introduced a requirement for Local Authorities to publish details of payments. Suppliers to the Council should be aware that the following spend information is published on the Council’s website on a monthly basis:

The Supplier.
Transaction date.
Amount paid.
Payment reference number.
Expenditure type description.
Originating business unit (e.g. our service authorising payment).

Data containing personal information e.g. payments to individuals for care packages is not public data and is therefore not published.

View the council’s financial information for all transactions.

Annual performance of payments in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015

Please see below for the Annual performance of payments in line with Regulation 113 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015:

Financial year
2021/2022
Total payments
£32,138.00
Payments over 30 days 358
Percentage not paid within 30 days
1.11%
Percentage paid within 30 days
98.89%
Interest (£’s), whether or not claimed, liable to be paid to suppliers
£6,503.55