Large Society Lotteries
Request
For the calendar year 2024 (1 January to 31 December 2024), please provide a list of all large society lotteries (as defined under the Gambling Act 2005) for which operators reported proceeds to the Gambling Commission.
For each large society lottery, please include the following data fields:
- Name of the lottery/society operator
- Total gross proceeds declared
- Amount returned to good causes
- Amount paid out in prizes
- Any other reported financial figures submitted to the Commission for that period (if available).
If the data are recorded on a financial year basis (e.g., April to March), please clarify which reporting period the figures relate to and provide the closest equivalent for 2024.
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
‘For the calendar year 2024 (1 January to 31 December 2024), please provide a list of all large society lotteries (as defined under the Gambling Act 2005) for which operators reported proceeds to the Gambling Commission.
For each large society lottery, please include the following data fields:
- Name of the lottery/society operator
- Total gross proceeds declared
- Amount returned to good causes
- Amount paid out in prizes
- Any other reported financial figures submitted to the Commission for that period (if available).
If the data are recorded on a financial year basis (e.g., April to March), please clarify which reporting period the figures relate to and provide the closest equivalent for 2024.’
The Gambling Commission can confirm that information is held falling within the scope of your request.
However, the Commission are of the view that this information is exempt from disclosure under Section 43(2) of the FOIA, as releasing this information for individual operators relates to the performance of the business and is not otherwise in the public domain.
Section 43(2) of the FOIA provides that information is exempt from disclosure, if its disclosure under the FOIA would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it).
Having acknowledged that the information falling within the scope of your request is exempt from disclosure, section 43(2) of the FOIA requires that we consider a public interest test to identify whether there is a wider public interest in fulfilling this request opposed to maintaining the exemption.
Public Interest Test
The factors that the Gambling Commission has considered when applying the public interest test have been detailed as follows:
Arguments in favour of disclosure:
The arguments in favour of disclosure are as follows:
- It is recognised that there is a legitimate public interest in promoting the transparency of the Gambling Commission through making information available to the public.
- There is a legitimate 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.
- The transparency of information furthers the public’s understanding of the performance of the gambling industry as a whole.
Arguments in favour of maintaining the exemption:
The arguments in favour of maintaining the exemption are as follows:
- Licensed operators have a reasonable expectation that this level of detail in relation to their business performance would not be published on an individual basis.
- Releasing this information would be likely to provide competitors with a commercial advantage, as they would be able to view the position of competing operators.
- Providing operator specific information regarding the information requested could lead to comparisons being made between operators, leading to unjustified inferences being made without the full context.
- Disclosing this information could discourage licensees from freely providing information to the Commission in future, which would be likely to prejudice the Commission’s ability to monitor and regulate its licensees.
- An extensive range of aggregated or anonymised data is already available to the public to give a necessary level of understanding of the gambling industry. Operators have a reasonable expectation that such information would not be published on an individual basis.
Weighing the balance:
Whilst the Gambling Commission aims to be open and transparent, there is a need to preserve the confidentiality of information relating to licensed operators and to be mindful of the commercial sensitivities of information that is held. In our view there is more than a 50% chance that prejudice to the Commercial Interests of licensees would be caused by disclosure and the Commission’s view is that the public interest is best served through maintaining this exemption.
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 new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Information Management Team
Gambling Commission