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Gambling with Lives Charity

Request

I would like to request information about the Gambling Commission’s involvement with the charity Gambling with Lives and their staff. Please can you advise:

  1. Over the last three years, how many meetings have been held between Commission staff and staff of Gambling with Lives?

  2. Over the last three years, how many meetings have been held between Commission Board members and staff of Gambling with Lives?

  3. Two individuals linked to/employed by Gambling with Lives are members of an advisory group to the Commission - Charles Ritchie and James Grimes. Please confirm their respective dates of appointment, their job descriptions, how many meetings of the advisory group they have attended over the last three years, and how much they have been paid by the Commission for this work.

  4. Please advise how much funding Gambling with Lives has received from the Gambling Commission over the last three years.

Response

Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

The Gambling Commission’s responses to your enquiries are as follows:

  1. Over the last three years, how many meetings have been held between Commission staff and staff of Gambling with Lives?

Expert by Experience Meetings attended with the Gambling Commission across this period: 8 core meetings and 6 subsidiary (total 14)

Further to these, there has been 4 occasions of senior members of Commission staff meeting with Gambling with Lives.

Finally, Commission staff were present at the Gambling with Lives parliamentary reception.

  1. Over the last three years, how many meetings have been held between Commission Board members and staff of Gambling with Lives?

Over the last three years, 8 meetings have been held where Commission Board members and staff of Gambling with Lives have been present.

  1. Two individuals linked to/employed by Gambling with Lives are members of an advisory group to the Commission - Charles Ritchie and James Grimes. Please confirm their respective dates of appointment, their job descriptions, how many meetings of the advisory group they have attended over the last three years, and how much they have been paid by the Commission for this work.

Section 21 of the FOIA provides that information is exempt where it is reasonably accessible elsewhere. The below link is the role description/contract of participation for Lived Experience Advisory Panel (LEAP) engagement with us:

https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/about-us/transparency/html/lived-experience-advisory-panel-terms-of-reference

James Grimes was appointed as a permanent member following recruitment - 20 January 2021 - James is still a current panel member today and until the end of his term on 31 December 2023. James was also nominated as the group’s vice chair on 17 March 2021 - 7 February 2022.

LEAP Meetings attended across the period for James Grimes (and still on-going as active member) 28.

Charles Ritchie was appointed as a permanent member of the group following recruitment on 20 January 2021, until the end of his contract term on 27 January 2023. Charles Ritchie was nominated as one of group’s Chairs from 17 March 2022 until 27 January 2023.

LEAP Meetings and associated meetings attended across the contracted period for Charles Ritchie: 35.

We are unable to provide details of how much these individuals have been paid, as this would constitute their personal data.

The Data Protection Act 2018 requires the processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would be disproportionate for us to publicly disclose these details unless there is a strong public interest in doing so. These individuals have a legitimate expectation that their personal details will not be disclosed in the context in which they were held.

On balance, there is no legitimate public interest in disclosing this information and it would not be fair to do so.

This information is therefore exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

  1. Please advise how much funding Gambling with Lives has received from the Gambling Commission over the last three years.

Section 21 of the FOIA provides that information is exempt where it is reasonably accessible elsewhere. The Commission reviews proposals for destinations of regulatory settlements: Destinations of regulatory settlements to be applied for socially responsible purposes (gamblingcommission.gov.uk).

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.

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
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham B2 4BP

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