Daily ticket sale numbers for lottery tickets
Request
I would like a daily ticket sale numbers for lottery tickets, broken down by ticket type. I would like a date column and columns containing totals for each ticket type (lotto, lotto hotpicks, euromillions etc). I would like this from now until as far back as you can, or the last 10 years - whichever is most possible.
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 daily ticket sale numbers for lottery tickets, broken down by ticket type. You have requested a date column and columns containing totals for each ticket type (lotto, lotto hotpicks, euromillions etc) from now until as far back as we can, or the last 10 years.
I can confirm that some information falling within the scope of your request is held by the Gambling Commission. However, it is not held in the format you are requesting. This information is contained within daily reports which contain a variety of information; each report would need to be reviewed manually and calculations performed in order extract the information you’re requesting.
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.
As mentioned, in order to identify, locate and retrieve the information requested, we conducted a search relating to daily ticket sales numbers for lottery tickets, broken down by ticket type, which returned a large amount of information in the format of daily reports. In order to identify whether we hold any information falling within the scope of your request we would need to review all of the daily reports 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:
If you are able to refine your request, we may be able to narrow the number of records that we need to search. However, as the information is in the format of daily reports, it is unlikely that this information can be retrieved and compiled to produce daily figures that are accurate within the appropriate limit.
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