Connexica has been appointed after beating off competition from 12 other bidders for the deal which will cover services across all local authorities in the county, plus Kent Fire & Rescue.

The company will provide data analytics software that is able to analyse large datasets, identify anomalies and suggest cases for further investigation.

The tender award notice said: “The project hopes to achieve savings by identifying fraud through data matching in council tax, business rates, social housing and procurement for all partners.”

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It said that the project intended to exploit previously unused datasets held by the partners – including library, leisure and social housing information – to combine with that from other organisations including Companies House. It would also incorporate Blue Badge, credit reference agency and payroll data to enhance the quality of matches.

“The intention in the medium term will be to bring in other public bodies and additional private sector datasets,” the notice said

The councils account for 3% of total local government net revenue expenditure in England, they claimed.

The tender notice did not reveal the price being paid to Connexica for its solution, but earlier this year the council won £480,000 from central government towards the project.

It was one of 59 bids to get a grant from the Departmetn for Communities and Local Government – earlier this month, councils in west London issued a tender for a supplier for a similar project.