Notifications by Commission staff about their gambling activity
Request
I'm writing to request information which I believe you hold and to which I believe I am entitled.
Specifically, I'm seeking information about notifications made by Gambling Commission staff to the intelligence lead about their own gambling activity, in particular:-
Since the start of 2018, on how many occasions has a staff member in a position to influence regulatory decisions under the Gambling Act 2005 notified the intelligence lead about a significant win?
Since the start of 2018, on how many occasions has a staff member in a position to influence regulatory decisions under the Gambling Act 2005 notified the intelligence lead about a significant loss?
In each case, how many different staff members notified the intelligence lead and on how many occasions each?
Please supply the operators with whom staff gambled, broken down by the number of occasions on which they were named in a notification to the intelligence lead.
Since the start of 2018, on how many occasions has the chief executive of the Gambling Commission notified the intelligence lead about a significant loss?
Since the start of 2018, on how many occasions has the chief executive of the Gambling Commission notified the intelligence lead about a significant win?
Please supply details of the operators mentioned in any notifications to the intelligence lead made by the chief executive of the Gambling Commission.
Where information requested is over several years, please provide a quarterly breakdown, if this does not take the request beyond the limit of time or cost.
In addition, should the wider request prove too onerous on cost or time grounds, please shorten the time period to a period that would fall within the relevant time and cost scope.
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested information about notifications made by Gambling Commission staff to the intelligence lead about their own gambling activity, in particular:-
- Since the start of 2018, on how many occasions has a staff member in a position to influence regulatory decisions under the Gambling Act 2005 notified the intelligence lead about a significant win?
- Since the start of 2018, on how many occasions has a staff member in a position to influence regulatory decisions under the Gambling Act 2005 notified the intelligence lead about a significant loss?
- In each case, how many different staff members notified the intelligence lead and on how many occasions each?
- Please supply the operators with whom staff gambled, broken down by the number of occasions on which they were named in a notification to the intelligence lead.
- Since the start of 2018, on how many occasions has the chief executive of the Gambling Commission notified the intelligence lead about a significant loss?
- Since the start of 2018, on how many occasions has the chief executive of the Gambling Commission notified the intelligence lead about a significant win?
- Please supply details of the operators mentioned in any notifications to the intelligence lead made by the chief executive of the Gambling Commission.
I can confirm that the Gambling Commission does hold a small amount of information falling within the scope of your request.
However, the Commission previously responded to an FOI request regarding employees in a position to influence/may seem to influence policy decisions informing the Commissions Intelligence Lead which gambling operators they gamble with and any big wins (over £500). The response to this request can be viewed on the Commission’s website, here:
No other information falling within the scope of your request is held by the Commission.
As such, Section 21 of the FOIA is engaged. Section 21 provides that information is exempt where it is reasonably accessible elsewhere.
Please note, the submissions identified in our previous response represent three individual wins by two Commission employees.
None of this information relates to the chief executive of the Gambling Commission.
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