Category B Machines
Request
Part 1 (Priority):
‘Documents held by the Regulatory Data & Research Team and the Policy Directorate only, covering the period 1 January 2024 to 1 September 2024, relating to the decision to remove Category B2, B3, and B4 machine-specific questions from AGC and Bingo regulatory returns.
Specifically:
Internal briefings, decision papers, or sign-off records authorizing the change;
Any risk assessment, harm-impact assessment, or equality assessment;
Any legal advice concerning LCCP 15.3.1 or section 22 of the Gambling Act 2005;
Any analysis of why no fresh consultation was undertaken following the 2023 White Paper.
Part 2 (If Part 1 is within the cost limit):
Correspondence between the Gambling Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) concerning the same policy change, same date range.’
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
Part1 (Priority):
‘Documents held by the Regulatory Data & Research Team and the Policy Directorate only, covering the period 1 January 2024 to 1 September 2024, relating to the decision to remove Category B2, B3, and B4 machine-specific questions from AGC and Bingo regulatory returns.
Specifically:
Internal briefings, decision papers, or sign-off records authorizing the change;
Any risk assessment, harm-impact assessment, or equality assessment;
Any legal advice concerning LCCP 15.3.1 or section 22 of the Gambling Act 2005;
Any analysis of why no fresh consultation was undertaken following the 2023 White Paper.
Part 2 (If Part 1 is within the cost limit):
Correspondence between the Gambling Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) concerning the same policy change, same date range.’
In relation to part one of your request, please see the attached document containing information falling within the scope of your request.
Please note, to fulfil your request, we searched only for documents held by our Research and Statistics team using the following search terms:
- Category B
- Cat B
We searched our systems for any information dated between 01 January 2024 to 01 September 2024 as requested. A manual review of all returned records was then completed.
In relation to part two of your request, the Commission can confirm that no information is held falling within the scope of your request.
Regulatory return submissions from gambling licensees are a vital source of information, providing an understanding of the size and shape of the gambling market in Great Britain as well as other key regulatory information. In March 2024 we published the Frequency of regulatory returns consultation response. The summary of responses can be found here: Frequency of regulatory returns: Consultation Response - Summary of responses and our position.
The consultation response stated our intention to change licence condition 15.3.1 – General and regulatory returns of the Licence Conditions and Code of Practice (LCCP) from 1 July 2024 to require all licensees to submit their regulatory returns on a quarterly basis. We also stated that additional changes will be made to the regulatory returns submission process, some of which were previously agreed in the 2020 Consultation: Changes to information requirements in the LCCP. These include removing some questions from regulatory returns for licensees and the harmonisation of reporting periods and due dates across all licensees.
Note, LCCP 15.3.1, part 1 states: "On request, licensees must provide the Commission with such information as the Commission may require, in such a form or manner as the Commission may from time-to-time specify.” This provides the Commission the scope to remove or add questions without the need to consult DCMS, or to seek further legal advice.
The Commission did begin to engage with the industry in late 2023 and this has informed the decisions taken by the Commission as a consequence. Industry engagement has continued throughout the improvement project and include round tables with operators to develop better guidance and more accurate descriptions of what is required from questions.
Review of the decision
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email.
Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.
If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission.
It should be noted that if you wish to raise a complaint with the ICO about the Commission’s handling of your request for information, then you are required to do so within six weeks of receiving your final response or last substantive contact with us.
The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Information Management Team
Gambling Commission
Files
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