National Fraud Initiative (NFI)
Since 1996 the Audit Commission has run the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), an exercise that matches electronic data within and between audited bodies to prevent and detect fraud.
The Audit Commission is an independent body responsible for ensuring that public money is spent economically, efficiently and effectively.
The use of data for NFI purposes is controlled to ensure compliance with data protection and human rights legislation. In 2006 the Audit Commission published a Code of Data Matching Practise which, for the 2008/09 NFI exercise, has been updated to take account of new legislation as a result of the Serious Crime Act 2007.
The NFI currently matches all public sector pension scheme data (of which the Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund is one) to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) database of deceased persons. This acts as an automated life certification process for the Pension Fund.
Nationally, the 2004/05 NFI exercise identified almost 2500 fraudulent cases where the pension had continued to be paid after the death of a pensioner. NFI can also identify instances where the main pension holder has passed away but possibly the widow's or widower's pension entitlement has not been activated.
The 2006/07 NFI exercise detected £140 million in fraud and overpayment, a 26% increase from £111 million in 2004/05.
The Royal County of Berkshire Pension Fund is committed to the NFI process and will again be undertaking the data matching exercise later this year. We accept that the vast majority of payments we make are legitimate but feel that this exercise is very much worthwhile in order to protect the Pension Fund against any possible fraud.
Further details about the NFI exercise can be found by following this link to the Audit Commission website
