Election Betting Investigation
Request
I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to the General Election Betting Investigation.
As stated on your website under The Gambling Commission’s Betting Integrity Decision Making Framework, I would like to request the following documents:
- Please provide the minutes from the meetings where the General Election Betting Investigation was discussed during the initial stages, specifically within the issue management group and case management group when the intelligence related to the investigation first emerged.
- Please release all incident referral forms submitted in relation to the General Election Betting Investigation (redacted is fine).
- Political affiliations: Please release the political affiliations of all individuals whom attend these meetings (if any).
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your request you have asked:
- Please provide the minutes from the meetings where the General Election Betting Investigation was discussed during the initial stages, specifically within the issue management group and case management group when the intelligence related to the investigation first emerged.
- Please release all incident referral forms submitted in relation to the General Election Betting Investigation (redacted is fine).
- Political affiliations: Please release the political affiliations of all individuals whom attend these meetings (if any).
Firstly, in relation to parts 1 and 2 of your request, the Commission is a regulatory body with licensing, compliance, and enforcement functions; through our regulatory activity, the Commission aims to protect consumers and the wider public, and to raise standards in the gambling industry. We take care to publish as much information as possible. However, we must also be careful not to reveal any information that could hinder our ability to conduct investigations or enable those we may investigate to avoid detection.
Section 22 of the Gambling Act 2005 sets out that the Gambling Commission is responsible for regulating and promoting licencing objectives as set out in section 1 of the Gambling Act 2005.
The statutory duties laid out in section 1 are:
a) preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime,
b) ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and
c) protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
Through our regulatory activities we aim to protect consumers and the wider public by raising standards within the gambling industry.
Under section 27 of the Act the Commission may undertake activities for the purpose of assessing -
(a) compliance with provision made by or by virtue of this Act
(b) whether an offence is being committed under this Act
By virtue of section 28 of the Act the Commission has the power to investigate whether an offence has been committed under the Act and may institute criminal proceedings in respect of offences under the Act in England and Wales.
Any information that we can publicly disclose in relation to particular regulatory activities is made available on our website at the appropriate time so as not to disclose any information that could impact on our ability to make enquiries and conduct investigations or enable those we investigate to avoid detection.
The Commission therefore concludes that the disclosure of this information relating to the investigation in question would prejudice the statutory functions of the Commission.
Section 30(1)(a) of the FOIA, provides that information held by a public authority is exempt information if it has, at any time, been held by the authority for the purposes of:
(a) any investigation which the public authority has a duty to conduct with a view to it being ascertained
(i) whether a person should be charged with an offence, or
(ii) whether a person charged with an offence is guilty of it
Consideration of section 30(1) is a two-stage process. Firstly, the exemption must be shown to be engaged. Secondly, as section 30 is a qualified exemption, it is subject to the public interest test.
In this instance, the request seeks specific documentation where the General Election betting investigation was discussed. As has been confirmed on the Metropolitan Police (the MET) website, (opens in a new tab)there were two investigations running into the placing of bets on the date of the General Election: one by the Gambling Commission (focussing on suspected offences of cheating) and one by the Metropolitan Police (centred on offences of misconduct in public office).
The Police announced the conclusion of theirs at the end of August. However, the Commission’s investigation into the placing of bets on the date of the General Election specifically concerns the offence of cheating, as defined by section 42 of the 2005 Act and is ongoing. As such, the Commission is not in a position to disclose any information falling within the scope of parts one and two your request.
Public interest test
The factors the Commission has considered when applying the public interest test have been detailed below and our view is that the public interest lies in favour of applying the exemption.
In favour of disclosure
The Commission is a public body which is required to regulate the gambling industry in the public interest. There is therefore a public interest in members of the public having confidence the Commission is being open and honest with the information it holds so that it can be held to account. It is important that the public are assured that the Commission is carrying out its functions and will uphold the licencing objectives ensuring that consumers are protected.
Disclosure of the requested information could demonstrate to stakeholders and relevant parties how the Commission undertakes investigations of a criminal nature. Furthermore, this disclosure may encourage stakeholders to work with us and contribute to our programme of work, increasing confidence in the Commission as a regulator and its ability to uphold the law.
In favour of maintaining the exemption
There is an expectation of confidence in much of the Commission’s work. It is the impact on this work of the Commission which is more likely to be affected by disclosure of the information. Should the Commission be required to disclose sensitive and confidential information about the state and nature of its enquiries and inquiries in a particular investigation it may lead to prejudice to that particular investigation, thereby inhibiting our ability to protect consumers.
Disclosure of this information would also undermine the Commission's ability to uphold the licensing objectives (as noted above) which would impact on the trust and confidence of the public in it as a regulator.
Weighing the balance
The Commission acknowledges that there is a public interest in promoting the accountability and transparency of public authorities. However, disclosure of the information would be damaging to the Commission as a regulatory body which ultimately serves to protect the wider public interest.
Looking at all the circumstances of the case and the nature of the request, the Commission considers that the relevant prejudice identified above would be caused to the Commission by disclosure, at this time, and this weighs in the balance when considering the question of public interest. Public knowledge of enquiries before any investigation is formally concluded is very unlikely to contribute to a proper understanding of the investigatory activities of the Commission.
We consider that the public interest is better served by withholding the specific documentation where the General Election betting investigation was discussed, ensuring that consumers are protected through our processes rather than releasing information which in our view will not benefit the public as this matter has not yet concluded.
Finally, in relation to part 3 of your request, I can confirm that on 21 June 2024 an email was sent to any Gambling Commission employees who had the potential to be directly involved with the investigation related to betting on the General Election. This communication requested any declarations of any active political affiliations, such as, donations to a party/candidate standing for election, volunteering for a party within the last 12 months, holding a position within a political party or being a candidate. For clarity the scope of this request does not cover information about individual voting intentions or voting history, just active political engagement.
No individuals who have been involved in the decision-making, intelligence gathering, or case management process made any such declarations.
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