1. National Fraud Initiative – preparing for the future
North West Auditors Forum 2014
Kevin Boon

2. NFI – preparing for the future
Pre NFI recap
Data/Match Quality
Smarter Working
What’s new in NFI 2014/15
NFI and the Future
Other purposes
Fraud
Flexible matching
Application checker

3. Pre NFI recap

4. NFI: Key Facts
Sophisticated batch data matching exercise designed to prevent and detect fraud
Established in 1996 and undertaken every 2 years
Incorporates England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Over 1,300 mandatory and voluntary participants provide 8,000 datasets
In m data matches released (Recommended Filter Matches 15%)
Over £1bn of fraud, error and overpayments identified to date

5. NFI Batch Data Matching: The Process
Participating bodies submit specified data
The NFI Team feeds back the outcomes within the National Report
The NFI matches data within and between bodies, to identify anomalies
Participants investigate matches, to establish fraud, error or other another cause
The data matches are returns matches to participants

6. NFI Batch Data Matching: The Data Pot
Blue Badges
Concessionary Travel Pass
Creditors
Council Tax
DWP & DDRI Deceased Persons
Deferred Pensions
Electoral Roll
Fraud Data
Housing Benefit Claimants
Housing Tenants
Insurance Claimants
Market Traders
Occupational Pensions
Payroll
Right To Buy
Personal Alcohol Licences
Private Residential Care Homes
Student Loans
Taxi Drivers
UKBA Immigration Data
Waiting Lists

7. The NFI Web Application
The NFI is delivered via a specially developed web application designed to place the user in control of their investigation
The Web Application Key Features
Secure facility for submitting data and for distributing matches
Hierarchal and controlled user access
Case management control features
Management information
Online training programme
Data quality assessment
Kevin – you can come in here.

8. NFI Cost Benefit per Organisation Type
Type of mandatory body
Number of bodies (across UK)
2012/2013
fee
Average financial outcomes this reporting period
London borough council 33
£4,150
£1,534,167
Metropolitan borough council 36
£4,000
£559,391
Unitary authority 76
£3,650
£489,781
County council and fire authority 62
£3,750
£376,443
District council
228
£2,100 - £2,300
£94,238
Police body 53
£1,000
£53,792
NHS organisation
441
£15,598
Other local government bodies 65
£4,639

9. Key Outcomes of the 2012/13 exercise - across England
£203 million in fraud and error was detected
571 prosecutions
120 people employed without the right to work in the UK were identified and as a result were dismissed or asked to resign
86 properties recovered for social landlords
21,396 blue badges and 78,443 concessionary travel passes cancelled

10. Data Quality

11. Garbage in, garbage out Data Quality is high priority (after Security)
Why is it so important?
Meeting specifications
Poor data produces spurious matches
Wasted time and effort
Garbage in, garbage out
Duplicate invoices
Duplicate creditors

12. How can you check Data Quality?
Using Excel/IDEA
Date sorting for completeness
Numeric sorting and control totals for reasonableness
Alpha sorting for completeness and rogue data/records
Excel format checking
Record count – truncation
Gap detection for quality and completeness
Duplicate invoices
Duplicate creditors

13. Smarter Working

14. Smarter working Data Quality Early engagement of investigators
Timing of follow up e.g. students
Key reports
Recommended matches
Using NFI as case management system
Filtering and sorting matches
Visual sifting using vertical view
Multiple match opening/closing
Larger reports e.g. Creditors
Exporting
Filtering in Excel (guidance available)
Summary recording of outcomes

15. What’s new for 2014/15?

16. What’s new in 2014/15? Security Policy Move to SFIS PSN UPRNs
Annual Council Tax SPD exercise
Outcomes MI report separate Fraud and Error
More match filters introduced
Extending the vertical view quick tick function
New Benefit ‘customer’ or ‘official’ error categories
Improved search, navigation, export and shared comment facilities
More efficient further information enquiry process for:-
Home Office immigration
Pensions
Students

17. Other Purposes and The Cabinet Office
NFI and the Future
Other Purposes and The Cabinet Office

18. The Future: Other purposes
The Serious Crime Act 2007 gave powers to the Secretary of State to extend the purposes of data matching beyond fraud.
Data matching through the NFI could help public bodies to reduce the significant levels of debt owed to them.
Arrears matching could identify details of those with tenant arrears, court fines, parking notices, child support payments and student loans.
Locating absconders.
The powers were never enacted.
However, the future looks better…..
Top areas of expansion.

19. The Future: The Cabinet office
What the move to the Cabinet Office will mean for NFI:-
Transfer of mandatory powers before March 2015
Updated Code of Data Matching Practice
Inherit existing powers
Extend mandatory participants (including government departments)
Legal power of Secretary of State to change purpose
Extension to error, debt/arrears recovery, maladministration, crimes other than fraud
Top areas of expansion.

20. Fraud and The Cabinet Office
NFI and the Future
Fraud and The Cabinet Office

21. NFI Fraud Detection and Prevention
We intend to… “deploy the National Fraud Initiative more widely as a near real-time tool to enable data matching between departments, and between central and local government”
The NFI has traditionally focussed on fraud detection
We are developing services to also assist with fraud prevention

22. The Flexible Matching Service (FMS)
NFI and the Future
The Flexible Matching Service
(FMS)

23. What is Flexible Matching?
The NFI flexible matching service is a powerful and sophisticated data matching engine that instantly identifies matches for counter-fraud investigation
A new NFI web application has been built which includes a facility to create and manage data matching jobs and an interactive data submission wizard
It can run batch data matching as stand-alone tasks at a time and frequency that suits your organisation’s operational requirements
All existing NFI matching options are available to participants

24. What can The Flexible Matching Service be used for?
Internal/Project Data Matching
Participants upload data for internal matching only
The datasets are only be matched to each other
Optional data matching against the NFI core datasets
Multi-Organisation Data Matching
Regional data matching initiatives where a group of participants wish to submit data for local cross matching
Optional data matching against the NFI core datasets
Talk about personal budgets pilot.

25. FMS: Existing Uses Housing benefit to student loans
Council Tax to Electoral Register
Mortality Screening
Personal budgets

26. The Application Checker
NFI and the Future
The Application Checker

27. An Overview of the Application Checker
Our new service that we are about to launch
Matches applications on a record by record basis with instant results
Designed to help prevent fraud at the point of application
Prevents fraud getting into your systems by data matching against the core NFI data

28. Application Checker: Basic Principles
Names
Address
Date of Birth
Payroll, Housing Benefit, Fraud Data and Immigration Data Matches

29. Further information regarding the NFI can be found on our website.
Alternatively please contact the NFI team via NFI queries
My contact details
Kevin Boon
Top areas of expansion.