Complaints received regarding an operator
Request
- How many complaints have the Gambling Commission received regarding an operator per year?
- How many individual complaints have the Gambling Commission investigated per year?
- Of the complaints the Commission receive what number and percentage are for Betfair and other Flutter brands?
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
- How many complaints have the Gambling Commission received regarding an operator per year?
- How many individual complaints have the Gambling Commission investigated per year?
- Of the complaints the Commission receive what number and percentage are for Betfair and other Flutter brands?
Firstly, for context, it should be noted that the Gambling Commission is 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.
We use evidence from a range of places, including from gambling customers to assist in assessing whether the licensed activities are being carried out in a manner which is inconsistent with the licensing objectives. 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 complaint, we will create a record within our records management system and record details of the complaint in a ‘free text’ field. There will be information held falling within the scope of part one of your request, how many complaints have the Gambling Commission received regarding an operator per year. This information can be provided back to 2020. However, prior to 2020 this information is not easily extractable and would require a manual review of each record to identify the information requested. Your request does not include any timescales for the information you have requested. As such, we have interpreted your request as being for all information held by the Gambling Commission.
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.
We estimate, in order to identify, locate and retrieve the information relating to the above request, it would take in excess of 18 hours to determine appropriate material and locate, 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.
If you are able to refine your request, we may be able to narrow the number of records that we need to search.
When considering your narrowed request, its worth noting that the Commission do not confirm or deny any information held regarding specific operators unless it is in the public interest to do so.
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 a new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Information Management Team
Gambling Commission