National Fraud Initiative (NFI) Data Matching and IT Services

Tender description

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) in conjunction with the Cabinet Office, intends to put in place a Contract with a single Supplier for the provision of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) Data Matching Services. The new Contract is to be the successor to the existing Contract which is due to end in December 2024. Lot 1: The NFI is a complex project requiring flexibility and close cooperation from the supplier. The NFI is a UK wide data matching exercise run by the Public Sector Fraud Authority (PFSA) part of the Cabinet Office. In addition to running the NFI in England under the Cabinet Office’s statutory data matching powers, the Cabinet Office operates the NFI in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on behalf of Audit Scotland, the Auditor General for Wales and the Northern Ireland Audit Office. The NFI is a highly successful data matching initiative that brings together a wide range of organisations (around 1,100 covering the public and some private sector) from across the UK to prevent and detect. By using data matching/analytics to compare different datasets across these organisations, the NFI is able to identify potentially fraudulent claims and overpayments. Over the years, the NFI has enabled participants to identify fraud and overpayments totalling in excess of £2.4 billion since the commencement of the first generation of the Contract in 1996. The Cabinet Office requires a managed service to deliver all aspects of the NFI in an environment that meets the Cabinet Office’s security requirements and is accredited against relevant Government Information Assurance Standards. The Supplier will be expected to ensure that the system is updated in line with future Government security standards or to data protection legislation. The Cabinet Office does not wish to acquire hardware or software for this exercise. The Cabinet Office may accept some of the activities to be provided through a cloud - based service however, this will be subject to the confirmation of appropriate security measures. The specification for an exercise of this complexity is necessarily a guide and there will inevitably be occasions when the supplier needs to work with the Cabinet Office to develop new techniques, integrate with other government products or overcome other data related problems. The initial contract period will be four years (£4,000,000) with the option to extend by two years (£2,000,000). The option of a two year extension will be subject to departmental approval that will be sought prior to the end of year four with 3 months prior notice.