What Lord Wallace of Saltaire was surprised about

This is a list of just some of the information used by the Cabinet Office together with an account of the 'data analytics' used. This confirms that 'data analytics' is used to 'assess any likely fraudulent activity of an individual' and that the CO uses the full electoral register.  You can see why Lord  Wallace was taken aback.  The information released by Snowden's is on a similarly shocking level, yet nobody moans when it's Tom Dick and Harry being snooped on instead of Agular Merkell!

2.1.7 Data obtained should allow for predictive analysis for fraud and compliance
purposes. Predictive analysis may also be used in broader business decision
making and risk management, for example where data is used to support
forecasting.

So it is more or less certain that the use of the full electoral register to produce lists of hundreds of thousands of people who are likely to engaging in fraudulent activity will continue.  Whether the NFI will be allowed by the Cabinet Office to continue to produce 'bogus' figures for fraud and 'error' remains to be seen.  One supposes that much will depend upon the political will and if past experience at a local level is anythiing to go by, which 'moral hobby horse' the civil servants are on.  Clearly the principle of subjecting a person to a fraud investigation on the basis of 'data analytics' and the use of the term 'data matching' to include broader data analytics which have nothing to do with identifying inconsistencies requiring investigation is well established within the Cabinet Office.

Unfortunately the Cabinet Office doesn't appear to have caught up with the point that the NFI has altered the statutory code of DM practice, as it is still cooperating in putting out false information to the effect that it governs all NFI matching when as we know when the NFI says 'have regard to' it means think about whether or not to comply and feel free to decide that it doesn't if you can get away with it (as in the case of getting information on disc not through the secure web site).

And let's face it if Darren Shillington can get excuses like 'It's the fault of councils for sending us incorrect data' past Brandon Lewis, Minister in the bloody DCLG he will probably find the people in the Cabinet Office a pushover.

Maidstone

Maidstone, Kent, lists categories of disregarded people as 'exemptions' and tells people they have to apply for an exemption. What utter nonsense.

It was bound to happen

Yes it was.  Councils are so keen to get at people on discounts that at least one is now telling people in receipt of a discount under Section 11(1) of the Act that not telling it about changes in circumstances which there is no duty to report under council tax discount law is a criminal offence under the Council Tax Reduction Regulations.

Here they are:

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/501/regulation/13/made

Can't recall if this one of of the outsourced services or not, but this sort of mess was predictable and this threat will no doubt be used by more than one council trying to bully taxpayers.