Premises for gambling
Request
Could you please confirm if any of the properties in Christianfields, Gravesend DA12, have been a premises for gambling within the past 20 years?
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
Could you please confirm if any of the properties in Christianfields, Gravesend DA12, have been a premises for gambling within the past 20 years?
The Gambling 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.
All operators who are licensed, or in the process of being licensed, by the Commission can be found on our Licensee register, which is regularly updated. This can be found on our website:
Full register of gambling businesses - Gambling Commission.
Any consumers who gamble with unlicensed operators are unlikely to receive the protections the Commission requires from its licensees.
The Gambling Commission do not provide comment on any information held, unless it is in the public interest to do so. As such, we are unable to confirm or deny whether we hold any information within the scope of your request. Section 31(3) of the FOIA (Law Enforcement) exemption applies.
Section 31(3) (Law Enforcement) provides that the duty to confirm or deny does not arise if, or to the extent that compliance with section 1(1)(a) would or would be likely to, prejudice any of the matters mentioned in subsection (1).
Public Interest Test
Having acknowledged that the Commission is not able to confirm or deny whether we hold any information within the scope of your request; section 31 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.
Gambling operators are required to provide detailed information to the Commission. Statutory mechanisms exist to compel the provision of information, but this is not always the most effective way to obtain information. We rely on the voluntary supply of information in order to perform our licensing, compliance and policy functions. In operator specific engagement, we rely on open and frank exchanges in order to reach decisions. Disclosing whether we hold specific information without sufficient rationale would undermine this trust and make operators less likely to co-operate with requests in the future.
In Favour of Disclosure
We acknowledge that there is a legitimate public interest in promoting the accountability and transparency of the Commission.
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 that 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 in ensuring that any individuals or organisations who are involved in providing gambling facilities to the public have undergone the necessary assessments and will uphold the licencing objectives ensuring that consumers are protected.
In Favour of Maintaining the Exemption
To disclose to the public whether we hold this information could impact on the free and frank exchange of information between the Commission and gambling operators which could ultimately result in consumers not being protected from operators who are unfit or incompetent in their activities.
Further to this, confirming or denying information which makes specific individuals or events identifiable is likely to impact on the openness of stakeholders when sharing important information with us or other law enforcement agencies.
If any regulatory decisions are made or there has been an agreement of a regulatory settlement, the Commission will ordinarily publish all such decisions in full.
Weighing the Balance
Given the points considered, the Commission believes that the interests of the public are better served through maintaining the exemption and therefore we are not in a position to confirm or deny whether we hold any information in relation to your request.
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