News story

National Fraud Initiative move to the Cabinet Office completed

The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) has moved to the Cabinet Office, complementing our work recovering taxpayers’ money lost through fraud.

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Cabinet Office is now responsible for the National Fraud Initiative from the Audit Commission.

The NFI is an exercise to detect and prevent potential fraud by examining electronic data shared between public and private sector bodies.

Transferring to the Cabinet Office will allow the NFI to continue to develop in line with government activities to save taxpayers’ money through addressing fraud and error, and improving debt recovery.

The NFI matches data from 1,300 public sector and 77 private sector organisations, including audit bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, government departments and other agencies. It flags up inconsistencies in the information that indicate a fraud, an error or an overpayment may have taken place, signalling the need for review and potential investigation.

The National Fraud Initiative transferred to the Cabinet Office following the closure of the Audit Commission that was announced in the Queen’s Speech in 2013. Plans for the NFI to transfer were announced on 15 July 2013.

Published 27 March 2015