MoU for fraud detection in Scottish funding applications
Summary
HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has published a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) detailing a data-sharing agreement for fraud detection in Scottish income-assessed funding applications. This agreement, effective March 19, 2026, aims to identify, investigate, and prevent fraud related to student funding administered by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS).
What changed
This document outlines a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) and the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) for the detection of fraud in Scottish income-assessed funding applications. The MoU, effective March 19, 2026, facilitates data sharing to identify, investigate, and prevent fraudulent applications for higher education student funding administered by SAAS. It is published under the Digital Economy Act 2017 and aims to protect public funds by verifying student eligibility and funding amounts.
While this is primarily an informational guidance document detailing an existing agreement, compliance officers should be aware of the data sharing protocols in place. The agreement supports SAAS's counter-fraud efforts and aims to deter fraud by informing students that SAAS has access to HMRC data. There are no direct compliance actions required for regulated entities based on this publication, as it details an operational agreement between government bodies.
Source document (simplified)
Transparency data
Fraud detection Scottish income assessed funding application 2024
This Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the detection of fraud in Scottish income assessed funding applications was agreed and put in place in 2024.
From: HM Revenue & Customs Published 19 March 2026 Get emails about this page
Applies to Scotland
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The detection of fraud in Scottish income assessed funding applications
Ref: RIS MoU 2025
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Details
This agreement is published as part of the Code of Practice for public authorities disclosing information under chapters 1, 3 and 4 (Public Service Delivery, Debt and Fraud) of part 5 of the Digital Economy Act (DEA) 2017.
The purpose of this data share is to identify, investigate and prevent fraud in Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) applications.
SAAS is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government and therefore exercises the functions of the Scottish Ministers. It has responsibility for administering higher education student funding under the The Student Support (Scotland) Regulations 2022.
SAAS assess and provide financial support to students applying for an eligible higher education course, who meet residency and household income eligibility criteria. At the point of application, all students are required to provide information relating to themselves and any declared relevant sponsors including the full names, date of birth, address, postcode, and National Insurance Number (NINO).
This data share will allow SAAS to verify a students entitlement to funding and to confirm that students have been awarded the correct amount of funding for this session.
Benefits of this data share are as follows:
- early identification and prevention of fraud
- minimising financial loss and reduced pressure on budgets
- reduced fraud rate and improved protection of public funds
- fairer process for students using early intervention to prevent future overpayments
- efficiency: Reduced and less intrusive fraud investigations
- transparency: Information relating to SAAS Counter Fraud Team, their responsibilities and who they share data with can be found on the SAAS website within the Fraud Protection section. Students are also informed of this by letter. Students knowing SAAS have access to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) data will hopefully encourage fraud deterrence.
There are no direct benefits to HMRC other than to support SAAS in their aim of identifying fraud.
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Published 19 March 2026
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