Fair processing notice
The Council is required by law to protect the public funds that it administers. The Council may share information that it holds with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud.
On behalf of the Accounts Commission, Audit Scotland appoints the auditor to audit the accounts of East Ayrshire Council. Audit Scotland is also responsible for carrying out data matching exercises.
What is 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. Computerised data matching allows potentially fraudulent claims and payments to be identified but the inclusion of personal data within a data matching exercise does not mean that any specific individual is under suspicion.
Where a match is found it indicates that there may be 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 exercise can also help the council to ensure that our records are up to date.
We participate in the Cabinet Office's National Fraud Initiative: a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. We are required to provide particular sets of data (UK Government) to the Minister for the Cabinet Office for matching for each exercise.
You can also view the privacy notice (PDF 216Kb) (Audit Scotland) on how personal data is used for the purpose of the National Fraud Initiative.
More information
For further information on Audit Scotland's legal powers and the reasons why it matches particular information see Audit Scotland's Full Privacy Notice.