National Fraud Initiative - Fourth Assembly

The Public Accounts Committee noted the Auditor General for Wales’ report into the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) in June 2014. The National Fraud Initiative is a data-matching exercise that helps detect and prevent fraud and overpayments from the public purse across the UK. The NFI matches data across organisations and systems to help public bodies identify fraud and overpayments. Since its commencement in 1996, NFI exercises have resulted in the detection and prevention of more than £22 million of fraud and overpayments in Wales and £939 million across the UK.

The Committee noted that the 2012-13 NFI, resulted in the detection and prevention of overpayments worth £4 million. Forty-three Welsh public sector bodies took part in the exercise, including local authorities, police authorities, fire authorities, probation boards and NHS bodies, the Welsh Government, Cardiff University, the Wales Audit Office and other public sector auditors.