Complaints Involving Gambling by Under 25's
Request
- The number of complaints or reports received by the Gambling Commission between 2019 and 2024 involving gambling by individuals under the age of 25.
- Any enforcement actions taken against betting companies related to targeting or facilitating gambling among individuals aged 18-25, during the same time period.
- Any internal risk assessments, memos, or reports concerning gambling-related harm among young men.
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
- The number of complaints or reports received by the Gambling Commission between 2019 and 2024 involving gambling by individuals under the age of 25.
- Any enforcement actions taken against betting companies related to targeting or facilitating gambling among individuals aged 18-25, during the same time period.
- Any internal risk assessments, memos, or reports concerning gambling-related harm among young men.
In relation to part one of your request, the Gambling Commission are an industry regulator and not an ombudsman. Our role is to consider if a gambling business has breached their licence conditions and we will take regulatory action where appropriate. We do not become involved in or “act upon” individual complaints. This means we do not have the powers to resolve individual gambling complaints or help consumers get their money back. However, all information received helps to build a picture of the gambling industry and support our regulatory functions.
We use evidence from a range of places, including from gambling customers, to build cases against gambling businesses. Information provided to us helps inform our work to raise gambling industry standards and make gambling fairer and safer. Information drawn from complaints raised against operators may be used by the Commission to inform our regulatory approach and determine whether any action may be necessary.
As such, when we receive any information relating to gambling by individuals under the age of 25, we create a record within our records management system, which may be categorised as a consumer complaint. We record more specific details of the complaint in a ‘free text’ field. There is no general categorisation which would encompass the type of complaint you have described in part one of your request. This information is not easily searchable and would require a manual review of each record to identify the information requested.
In order to be of assistance, in relation to part two of your request, details of our enforcement activity through public statements. The public statements will detail the nature of the failings by the operator and the amount of the fine or settlement.
Further to this, the Commission also publishes a list of recent regulatory sanctions we have imposed on licence holders. Public statements are available on the Gambling Commission website for 3 years from the date of issue.
In relation to part three of your request, the Gambling Commission regularly releases official statistics and research: Statistics and Research.
This information includes a variety of age ranges and gender breakdowns, which may be of some assistance to you.
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for public authorities, such as the Commission, is set at £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
In order to identify, locate and retrieve the information requested, we conducted a search relating to the number of complaints between 2019 and 2024 which retrieved a large number of records.
In order to identify whether we hold any information falling within the scope of your request we would need to review all of these complaints individually to assess if they were relevant to your request, and therefore we estimate that it would take in excess of 18 hours to determine appropriate material and retrieve and extract any relevant information in reference to your request.
When a public authority applies the section 12 exemption to a request, the FOIA guidance specifically states that a public authority should avoid providing any information found as a result of a search as it denies the requestor the right to express a preference as to which parts of the request they may wish to receive within the appropriate time limit. Guidance on the application of section 12 can be viewed here:
Requests where the cost of compliance exceeds the appropriate limit (section 12) | ICO.
If you are able to refine your request, we may be able to narrow the number of records that we need to search.
Until we are able to process the search of the information you have requested, we are unable to ascertain if other exemptions will apply to any material identified which would also prevent disclosure.
Please note, any refined request would be processed as a new request and the 20 working day statutory time limit would apply.
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