Hampshire Constabulary: National Fraud Initiative

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National Fraud Initiative

All police pensioners will have received a letter from Hampshire Constabulary's Finance department about their details being passed to the National Audit Office. This page provides more information about the National Fraud Initiative.

Hampshire Police Authority 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, in order to prevent and detect fraud. The Audit Commission appoints an auditor to audit the accounts of Hampshire Police Authority.

The Audit Commission currently requires us to participate in a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. The Audit Commission requires us to provide information we hold for this purpose. We are required to provide particular sets of data to the Audit Commission for matching for each exercise, and these are set out in the Audit Commission’s guidance. Click here to read the Audit Commission guidance on data matching.

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 and data matching allows fraudulent claims and payments to be identified. Where a match is found it indicates 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.

The use of data by the Audit Commission in a data matching exercise is carried out with statutory authority under its powers in Part 2A of the Audit Commission Act 1998. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under theData Protection Act 1998. Data matching by the Audit Commission is subject to a Code of Practice. Click here to read the Audit Commission Code of practice.

Click here for further information on the Audit Commission’s legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information.