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Request date: 19 May 2023
This version was printed or saved on: 9 May 2025
Online version: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/about-us/freedomofinformation/allwyn-application-and-review
In or around September 2022, the UK Gambling Commission awarded the fourth licence to operate the National Lottery to Allwyn Entertainment Ltd.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please provide me with copies of:
Please narrow part 4 of my request as follows:
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email of 19 May 2023 you requested copies of:
On 7 June 2023, we emailed you confirming that the information you have requested at questions 1-3 is readily available for the Commission to review and consider for response under the FOIA. However, the burden of processing part 4 of your request outweighed any value or serious purpose the request may have.
As such, on the 7 June 2023, you narrowed this part of the request to:
I can confirm that all elements of your request have now been considered in line with the FOIA. Information falling within scope of all of your request is held by the Gambling Commission.
For context, the Gambling Commission is the UK's independent statutory body responsible for awarding the licence to run the National Lottery and regulating its activities to ensure safe and fair play.
The current UK National Lottery licence is due to expire in 2024 and the Gambling Commission has run the competition to award the next licence.
As part of our responsibility as a regulator, we have three overriding statutory duties which underpin the fourth licence competition:
Under Section 11 of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 (opens in a new tab) the Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport issues Directions (opens in a new tab) to us in relation to the exercise of our licensing functions, which we must comply with.
The fourth National Lottery licence competition was launched in August 2020 and the Gambling Commission formally awarded the fourth National Lottery Licence to Allwyn in September 2022. Our priority is to ensure a seamless and timely transition to the next licence, for the benefit of participants and good causes.
There is currently ongoing litigation brought by International Game Technology (IGT) against the Gambling Commission, challenging the award of the fourth National Lottery Licence to Allwyn.
As part the application process (as with any potential operator), the Commission will enter dialogue with the applicant and relevant third parties; information collected during this process is used to ascertain if the statutory duties which underpin the regulation of the National Lottery will be met (ensuring that the interests of all players are protected, ensuring the Lottery is run with due propriety and that returns to good causes are maximised).
It is in the interests of all parties that matters can be discussed openly and frankly. Providing the requested information would reveal details about how the Commission conducts its regulatory work and revealing this information could seriously impact on the Commission’s ability to fulfil its statutory functions.
We expect all licensees to work with us in an open and cooperative way and to inform us of anything we might need to be aware of in order to regulate effectively. We encourage all operators to be as thorough and as detailed as possible when communicating with us. As such, we are of the opinion that any information relating to the application submitted by Allwyn is exempt from is disclosure and sections 41 and 43 of the FOIA are engaged.
Confidentiality – Section 41
Section 41 provides an exemption under the FOIA from the right to access information where the information was provided to the public authority in confidence.
Information will be covered by Section 41 if:
When deciding if disclosure would constitute a breach of confidence, the Commission has to consider:
Section 41 is designed to give those who provide confidential information to public authorities, a degree of assurance that their confidences will continue to be respected, should the information fall within the scope of an FOIA request.
The information included as part of Allwyn’s application was submitted to the Commission on the understanding that it was being provided in confidence.
Having considered your request and the information falling within the scope of your request, the Commission has concluded that disclosure would constitute a breach of this confidence, and that Allwyn would have an actionable claim for breach of confidence if this information was disclosed.
The Commission depends on the free flow of confidential information from stakeholders that contribute to its statutory functions.
Therefore, in light of the above, this information is captured under the exemption set out in section 41 of the FOIA and therefore will not be disclosed.
Further to this, given the nature of the information contained within our communications with Allwyn and consequently the impact to the regulatory work of the Commission, we are of the view that the remaining information you have requested is exempt under section 43 of the FOIA
Commercial interests - Section 43
Section 43(2) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any legal person (an individual, a company, the public authority itself or any other legal entity).
The information requested was generated through the application process to run the National Lottery. Disclosure of the requested information, at this time, could impact on the future commercial activity of Allwyn as the disclosure could reveal specific information about the organisation which could be used by competitors in the future for their own advantage.
The Commission therefore feels that the disclosure of this information ‘would be likely to prejudice’ the commercial interests of Allwyn, the Commission and the National Lottery itself.
The Commission considers that the public interest in disclosing this information is outweighed by the wider public interest in protecting the commercial interests of Allwyn. Our full public interest consideration is set out below.
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 Gambling Commission is the statutory body responsible for awarding licences to run the National Lottery. As such, there is 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 in ensuring that the successful applicant awarded the licence to run the National Lottery and therefore providing the facility to partake in the National Lottery to the public, have undergone the necessary assessments and will uphold the statutory obligations associated with the National Lottery
Disclosure of the requested information could demonstrate to stakeholders and relevant parties how the Commission adequately assesses applicants. Furthermore, this disclosure may encourage stakeholders to work with us and contribute to this programme of work, increasing confidence in the Commission as a regulator and its ability to uphold the law.
In favour of maintaining the exemption
The Commission has taken steps throughout the running of the 4th National Lottery competition to publish information ensuring the transparency and accountability of the process. Specific detail of correspondence, between individual applicants to the Competition does not contribute to the overall understanding of the National Lottery.
Further to this, disclosure of this information could potentially compromise the integrity of the implementation and security of the new National Lottery licence.
The Commission have a statutory duty to maximise returns to good causes. Consequently, the weaker the competition the greater the risk that we do not meet that statutory duty. Fulfilling your request would be likely to prejudice the ability of the Commission to obtain the best outcome for good causes.
We consider that disclosing the information could discourage licensees from freely providing information to the Commission in future, which would likely prejudice the Commission’s ability to monitor and regulate the National Lottery as well as the gambling industry.
Weighing the balance
Whilst the Commission aims to be open and transparent, there is a need to preserve the confidentiality of information submitted on that basis and to be mindful of the commercial sensitivities of information that is held.
Having weighed these issues, the Commission is of the view that the public interest is best served through maintaining this exemption. There is very little that providing this information would do in terms of the public interest whilst disclosure would be likely to impact on the commercial interests of the Licensee.
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
Thank you for your response to my FOI request.
I am emailing to request an Internal Review of your decision.
Please confirm, by reply to his email, that you have received my request for an Internal Review.
I’m writing to you further to your Freedom of Information request of 19 May 2023, in which you requested copies of:
On 7 June 2023, we emailed you confirming that the information you have requested at questions 1-3 was readily available for the Commission to review and consider for response under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). However, the burden of processing part 4 of your request outweighed any value or serious purpose the request may have.
As such, on the 7 June 2023, you narrowed this part of the request to:
We responded to your request in its entirety on 15 July 2023. Following this response, you made a request for an internal review of our decision to withhold any information falling within the scope of your request.
We have now concluded our review and our findings are detailed below. This internal review was conducted by someone who was not involved in the processing of your original request.
Internal Review
In our initial response we advised that information falling within scope of all elements of your request was held by the Gambling Commission. However, due to the Commission’s responsibilities as the UK's independent statutory body responsible for awarding the licence to run the National Lottery and regulating its activities, we advised that any information relating to the application submitted by Allwyn was exempt from disclosure under section 41 - Information provided in confidence and section 43 – Commercial Interests.
After reviewing your request and our response, I uphold our original decision to engage the sections 41 and 43 exemptions in relation to the entirety of questions one, two and three of your request. My considerations for this decision are detailed below.
Section 41
The Commission relies on the free flow of confidential information from the chosen operator of the National Lottery. The Commission considers that the public interest in disclosing this information to you is outweighed by the wider public interest in preserving the principle of confidentiality, and the impact that disclosure would have on the interests of Allwyn, as the successful applicant to the National Lottery competition.
Section 41 provides those who give confidential information to public authorities a degree of assurance that their confidences will continue to be respected, should the information fall within the scope of an FOIA request.
Therefore, in light of the above, this information continues to be captured under the exemption set out in section 41 of the FOIA and therefore will not be disclosed.
Section 43
Section 43(2) of the FOIA provides that information is exempt information 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).
The information that we hold, falling with the scope of these parts of your request, was generated through the application process to run the National Lottery. This was provided to us on the understanding that this is for our own internal use and Allwyn have a reasonable expectation that this information will not be disclosed any further.
I acknowledge that there is a legitimate public interest in promoting the transparency of the Commission, as the statutory body responsible for awarding licences to run the National Lottery.
However, Allwyn has a legitimate expectation, that we will not share their commercial information. The Commission has, throughout the running of the 4th National Lottery competition published information, ensuring the transparency and accountability of the process. Specific detail of correspondence, between individual applicants to the Competition does not contribute to the overall understanding of the National Lottery.
Looking at all the circumstances of the case and the nature of the request, there is more than a 50% chance that prejudice would be caused to both Allwyn and the integrity of the implementation and security of the new National Lottery licence if the information was disclosed.
In summary, having considered these issues, the Commission is of the view that the public interest is best served through maintaining these exemptions. There is very little that providing this information would do in terms of the public interest, whilst disclosure would be likely to impact on the commercial interests of Allwyn, the Commission and its statutory duties as the regulator of the National Lottery.
With this in mind, we do not consider the release of this information to be in the public interest.
In conclusion and upon review, our view is that the section 41 (Information provided in confidence) and section 43 (Commercial Interests) exemptions continue to be engaged regarding questions one, two and three of your request.
As part of the review of your request, the materials held falling within scope of your request have been fully reconsidered. Whilst the decision to withhold the material within the scope of questions one, two and three of your request have been upheld, the small number of communications relevant to question four of your request are considered to now be suitable for disclosure.
Please see the attached information we can provide relating to:
Any communication either representative of Allwyn and the Gambling Commission concerning the Solution Risk Factor that was used to judge the level of risk in its bid.
This information has been extracted from larger communications between Allwyn and the Commission to only include information in scope of the request.
If you are not content with the outcome of your review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the complaints procedure provided by the Gambling Commission. The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
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