Sport Northern Ireland is required by law to protect the public funds it administers. Sport Northern Ireland may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, in order to prevent and detect fraud.
The Local Government Auditor audits the accounts of Sport Northern Ireland. The Comptroller and Auditor General is (also) responsible for carrying out data matching exercises under his powers in Articles 4A to 4G of the Audit and Accountability (Northern Ireland) Order 2003.
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 fraudulent claims and payments to be identified. Where a match is found it indicates that there may be an inconsistency that 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 Comptroller and Auditor General currently requires Sport Northern Ireland to participate in a data matching exercise to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. Sport Northern Ireland is required to provide particular sets of data to the Comptroller and Auditor General for matching. Details are set out in the Northern Ireland Audit Office’s (NIAO) website www.niauditoffice.gov.uk
