Correspondence between GC and Fairer and Clean Up Gambling
Request
- All correspondence (emails, letters, meeting minutes, notes of calls) exchanged between Gambling Commission staff and any of the following, between 1 January 2025 and the present:
Derek Webb, also written Derek John Webb;
Brianne Doura-Schawohl;
Matt Zarb-Cousin;
any person using an email address at the domains @fairergambling.com or @cleanupgambling.com.
All consultation submissions, briefing papers, policy proposals or complaints received by the Commission from, or referring to, any of the following entities in the same period: Derek Webb LLC; the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG); Clean Up Gambling; Prime Table Games.
Records of any meetings (dates, attendees, agendas, minutes) between Commission staff and any of the above individuals or entities in the same period.
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
- All correspondence (emails, letters, meeting minutes, notes of calls) exchanged between Gambling Commission staff and any of the following, between 1 January 2025 and the present:
Derek Webb, also written Derek John Webb;
Brianne Doura-Schawohl;
Matt Zarb-Cousin;
any person using an email address at the domains @fairergambling.com or @cleanupgambling.com.
All consultation submissions, briefing papers, policy proposals or complaints received by the Commission from, or referring to, any of the following entities in the same period: Derek Webb LLC; the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG); Clean Up Gambling; Prime Table Games.
Records of any meetings (dates, attendees, agendas, minutes) between Commission staff and any of the above individuals or entities in the same period.
Please see the attached information held by the Gambling Commission we are able to disclose falling within the scope of your request. The following exemptions apply to some of the information that we hold.
Section 40(2)
We have redacted from the attached, information relating to identifiable individuals that would constitute personal data. This includes names and email addresses.
The Data Protection Act 2018 requires personal data to be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject. It is the view of the Commission that disclosing the personal information within the attached documents would constitute the disclosure of personal data and would contravene this principle.
This information is therefore exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Section 40(5)
The Data Protection Act 2018 requires personal data to be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.
It is the view of the Commission that confirming whether we do or do not hold information specifically identifying Derek Webb, Brianne Doura-Schawohl or Matt Zarb-Cousin; would constitute the disclosure of personal data and would contravene this principle.
This information is therefore exempt under section 40(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
Section 40(5B) provides that the duty to confirm or deny does not arise in relation to other information if or to the extent that any of the following applies—
(a) giving a member of the public the confirmation or denial that would have to be given to comply with section 1(1)(a)—
(i) would (apart from this Act) contravene any of the data protection principles.
It is the view of the Commission that confirming whether we do or do not hold information in relation to these individuals would constitute the disclosure of personal data and would not be fair and lawful.
If held, the requested information clearly both identifies, and relates to, the individuals named in the request. Issuing a confirmation or a denial would reveal information which has these individuals as its focus and would therefore reveal their personal data. There is no legitimate public interest in confirming or denying this information and it would not be fair to do so.
This information is therefore exempt under section 40(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
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
Files
Some files may not be accessible for users of assistive technology. If you require a copy of the file in an accessible format contact us (opens in new tab) with details of what you require. It would help us to know what technology you use and the required format.
PDF Files Some PDF files cannot be displayed in a browser, you will see a message saying "Please wait...". If you see this message, you will need to download the file and open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (opens in a new tab).