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Request date: 18 August 2026
This version was printed or saved on: 15 September 2026
Online version: https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/about-us/freedomofinformation/buzz-group-limited
Please treat this email as a request for recorded information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
This request concerns:
Operator: Buzz Group Limited Gambling Commission account: 2355 Premises: the bingo premises at Denby Dale Road, Wakefield, WF1 1JN Licensing authority: Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
I note that the Gambling Commission's premises register currently describes this location as "Gala Bingo, Area 2, Denby Dale Road, Wakefield, WF1 1JN", whereas Wakefield Council's current register identifies the premises as Buzz Bingo.
Time period
Unless otherwise specified, please provide information from 1 January 2023 to the date this request is processed.
My request is deliberately premises/operator focused. I am not seeking the names, private contact details or other personal data of individual customers, complainants or ordinary employees.
Where documents contain exempt personal information, please redact that information and disclose the remaining non-exempt material wherever possible.
Please provide, for each calendar year from 2023 onwards, the number of complaints, reports, concerns, intelligence records or referrals held by the Commission that are recorded as relating specifically to the Wakefield Denby Dale Road bingo premises. Where readily retrievable from structured fields, please provide:
Where existing categorisation permits, I am particularly interested in records falling under subjects such as:
I understand that some Commission records contain free-text narratives that may not be readily searchable. I am therefore not asking Commission staff to manually review every free-text record solely to create new categories that are not already held.
If the requested subject breakdown cannot be produced without such manual review, please provide the existing general classifications/counts that are retrievable and confirm which more detailed classifications are not held in an extractable form.
Please provide the list/data dictionary or description of the existing complaint, contact, intelligence or regulatory categories/codes used by the Commission during the requested period insofar as relevant to land-based gambling operators/premises.
This is requested so that any figures disclosed under section 1 can be interpreted accurately.
Please provide information concerning every Local Authority Compliance Event (LACE) referral made by the Gambling Commission to Wakefield Metropolitan District Council from 1 January 2023 onwards that relates specifically to the bingo premises at Denby Dale Road, Wakefield. For each such referral, please provide, where held and disclosable:
Where possible, please provide copies of the referral and the substantive response/outcome from Wakefield Council with personal/source-identifying information redacted.
Please provide the number and dates of referrals, intelligence reports or substantive compliance notifications received by the Commission from Wakefield Metropolitan District Council concerning this premises during the stated period. Where held in a structured/readily retrievable form, please also provide:
Please provide a record of all Commission compliance assessments, compliance visits or other premises-specific regulatory assessments concerning the Wakefield Denby Dale Road premises during the stated period.
For each, please provide:
For completed matters, please provide copies of final assessment reports, outcome letters, compliance findings or equivalent final documents where held and disclosable, with exempt information redacted as necessary.
For completed/closed matters during the stated period, please provide copies or details of substantive regulatory correspondence between the Commission and Buzz Group Limited concerning the Wakefield premises where the subject involved:
Where identifying all such correspondence would require an excessive manual free-text review, please instead provide the existing record counts/categories and any readily retrievable final outcome documents.
Please provide details of any completed record during the stated period in which the Commission:
Where disclosure of detailed live regulatory consideration would prejudice an active investigation, please separate that material from closed/historic information and disclose the remainder to the extent permitted.
Please provide the number, dates and existing types/categories of any operator notifications, key-event records or other reportable events submitted by Buzz Group Limited during the stated period that are specifically tagged or recorded as relating to the Wakefield Denby Dale Road premises, to the extent this information is disclosable. I do not seek personal information relating to individual employees.
The Gambling Commission published regulatory action against Buzz Group Ltd on 16 December 2021, recording a £780,000 financial penalty and formal warning following findings of social-responsibility and anti-money-laundering failures. For the period from 1 January 2023 onwards, please provide any readily retrievable recorded information showing whether the Wakefield premises was subject to:
If no Wakefield-specific follow-up information is held, please confirm that.
The Commission's current public-register page for Buzz Group Limited, account 2355, states that no regulatory actions have been recorded for the business. However, the Commission's own published statement dated 16 December 2021 records a £780,000 fine and formal warning against Buzz Group Ltd. Please provide any recorded information held that explains:
I am requesting existing recorded information only. If the Commission holds no recorded explanation, please simply confirm that no such explanatory information is held.
The Commission's current premises register describes the Wakefield address as Gala Bingo, while the operator is identified as Buzz Group Limited and Wakefield Council's current register describes the premises as Buzz Bingo. Please provide any recorded information held explaining:
Please provide, for completed/closed matters where disclosable, copies of substantive gambling-compliance records shared between the Commission and Wakefield Metropolitan District Council concerning this premises during the stated period, including:
Personal and source-identifying information may be redacted.
Where information is already held as a spreadsheet/table/database export, I would prefer it in CSV/XLSX or its existing electronic format. I am not asking the Commission to create information or manually compile a new narrative report. For documents, searchable electronic copies are preferred. For each numbered element where no information is held, please state "not held".
Section 12 / cost-limit provision
I have deliberately limited the request to one operator, one physical premises and a defined period. If the Commission estimates that the whole request would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12 FOIA, please provide section 16 advice and assistance identifying which numbered elements and/or period account for the estimated excess. If a narrower request is required, my preferred first fallback is:
1 January 2025 to present, prioritising sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 11.
In particular, I am content for the Commission to provide existing structured metadata/counts rather than manually reviewing large volumes of free-text material merely to create subject classifications.”
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
Request
In your email you have requested the following information regarding Buzz Group Limited from 1 January 2023 to the date this request is processed:
Please provide, for each calendar year from 2023 onwards, the number of complaints, reports, concerns, intelligence records or referrals held by the Commission that are recorded as relating specifically to the Wakefield Denby Dale Road bingo premises. Where readily retrievable from structured fields, please provide:
Where existing categorisation permits, I am particularly interested in records falling under subjects such as:
I understand that some Commission records contain free-text narratives that may not be readily searchable. I am therefore not asking Commission staff to manually review every free-text record solely to create new categories that are not already held.
If the requested subject breakdown cannot be produced without such manual review, please provide the existing general classifications/counts that are retrievable and confirm which more detailed classifications are not held in an extractable form.
Please provide the list/data dictionary or description of the existing complaint, contact, intelligence or regulatory categories/codes used by the Commission during the requested period insofar as relevant to land-based gambling operators/premises.
This is requested so that any figures disclosed under section 1 can be interpreted accurately.
Please provide information concerning every Local Authority Compliance Event (LACE) referral made by the Gambling Commission to Wakefield Metropolitan District Council from 1 January 2023 onwards that relates specifically to the bingo premises at Denby Dale Road, Wakefield. For each such referral, please provide, where held and disclosable:
Where possible, please provide copies of the referral and the substantive response/outcome from Wakefield Council with personal/source-identifying information redacted.
Please provide the number and dates of referrals, intelligence reports or substantive compliance notifications received by the Commission from Wakefield Metropolitan District Council concerning this premises during the stated period. Where held in a structured/readily retrievable form, please also provide:
Please provide a record of all Commission compliance assessments, compliance visits or other premises-specific regulatory assessments concerning the Wakefield Denby Dale Road premises during the stated period.
For each, please provide:
For completed matters, please provide copies of final assessment reports, outcome letters, compliance findings or equivalent final documents where held and disclosable, with exempt information redacted as necessary.
For completed/closed matters during the stated period, please provide copies or details of substantive regulatory correspondence between the Commission and Buzz Group Limited concerning the Wakefield premises where the subject involved:
Where identifying all such correspondence would require an excessive manual free-text review, please instead provide the existing record counts/categories and any readily retrievable final outcome documents.
Please provide details of any completed record during the stated period in which the Commission:
Where disclosure of detailed live regulatory consideration would prejudice an active investigation, please separate that material from closed/historic information and disclose the remainder to the extent permitted.
Please provide the number, dates and existing types/categories of any operator notifications, key-event records or other reportable events submitted by Buzz Group Limited during the stated period that are specifically tagged or recorded as relating to the Wakefield Denby Dale Road premises, to the extent this information is disclosable. I do not seek personal information relating to individual employees.
The Gambling Commission published regulatory action against Buzz Group Ltd on 16 December 2021, recording a £780,000 financial penalty and formal warning following findings of social-responsibility and anti-money-laundering failures. For the period from 1 January 2023 onwards, please provide any readily retrievable recorded information showing whether the Wakefield premises was subject to:
If no Wakefield-specific follow-up information is held, please confirm that.
The Commission's current public-register page for Buzz Group Limited, account 2355, states that no regulatory actions have been recorded for the business. However, the Commission's own published statement dated 16 December 2021 records a £780,000 fine and formal warning against Buzz Group Ltd. Please provide any recorded information held that explains:
I am requesting existing recorded information only. If the Commission holds no recorded explanation, please simply confirm that no such explanatory information is held.
The Commission's current premises register describes the Wakefield address as Gala Bingo, while the operator is identified as Buzz Group Limited and Wakefield Council's current register describes the premises as Buzz Bingo. Please provide any recorded information held explaining:
Please provide, for completed/closed matters where disclosable, copies of substantive gambling-compliance records shared between the Commission and Wakefield Metropolitan District Council concerning this premises during the stated period, including:
Personal and source-identifying information may be redacted.
Where information is already held as a spreadsheet/table/database export, I would prefer it in CSV/XLSX or its existing electronic format. I am not asking the Commission to create information or manually compile a new narrative report. For documents, searchable electronic copies are preferred. For each numbered element where no information is held, please state "not held".
Section 12 / cost-limit provision
I have deliberately limited the request to one operator, one physical premises and a defined period. If the Commission estimates that the whole request would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12 FOIA, please provide section 16 advice and assistance identifying which numbered elements and/or period account for the estimated excess. If a narrower request is required, my preferred first fallback is:
1 January 2025 to present, prioritising sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 11.
In particular, I am content for the Commission to provide existing structured metadata/counts rather than manually reviewing large volumes of free-text material merely to create subject classifications.”
Response
Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) makes provision for public authorities to refuse requests for information where the cost of dealing with them would exceed the appropriate limit, which for public authorities, such as the Gambling Commission (the Commission), is set at £450. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 18 hours in determining whether the department holds the information, locating, retrieving and extracting the information.
After reviewing your request, the Commission estimates that it would take in excess of 18 hours to determine appropriate material and retrieve and extract any relevant information in reference to your request, and therefore the section 12 exemption is engaged.
You have stated within your request that if a narrower request is required, for the Commission to process the following:
“1 January 2025 to present, prioritising sections 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and 11.” As such, we have focused our response on your narrower request.
Question 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
The Gambling Commission do not provide comment on any information held regarding specific operators, unless it is in the public interest to do so. As such, we are unable to confirm or deny whether we hold any information falling 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).
The 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 of the FOIA requires that we consider a public interest test to identify whether there is a wider public interest in fulfilling this request as opposed to maintaining the exemption.
In considering the public interest the Commission has considered the following factors.
The Commission is a public body which regulates the gambling industry in accordance with its statutory objectives, and its work is in the public interest. We recognise that there is therefore a public interest in members of the public having confidence that the Commission is being open and honest in how it regulates and the information it holds so that it can be effectively held to account.
Further to this, it is important that there is sufficient information in the public domain, so consumers have an understanding of the regulatory activity that the Commission is taking with specific operators to enable them to make informed decisions regarding their choice of operator. Weighed against these factors, the Commission has also considered factors in favour of maintaining the exemption.
The Commission has robust and effective processes and procedures in place which are utilised when carrying out activities which contribute to our regulatory activities. These procedures and processes have been put in place to increase the integrity of our work, demonstrating to the public at large that they can have confidence in the Commission’s ability to uphold its statutory obligations.
There is an expectation of confidence in much of the Commission’s work, particularly regarding the information collected in relation to specific operators. Sharing this information, if held, would consequently impact on the openness of stakeholders when sharing important information with us or other law enforcement agencies. This would have a substantial adverse effect on the Commission’s ability to carry out its regulatory functions.
Confirming or denying information which makes specific individuals, events or lines of enquiry identifiable could alert individuals involved to the fact that the Commission was/is or alternatively wasn’t/isn’t engaging in specific conversations; providing an opportunity for individuals to alter their behaviours or evade detection. This would result in making it more difficult for the Commission to achieve its aims.
Ultimately, the Gambling Commission regulates gambling in the interests of consumers and the wider public. As such, the Commission believes that the interests of the public are better served through maintaining the exemption, therefore, we are not in a position to confirm or deny whether we hold any information in relation to your request.
Question 10
We publish a list of regulatory actions taken by the Commission for the last three years on our website, here: Regulatory actions.
Within your request, you have referred to the Commission's own published statement dated 16 December 2021 which records a £780,000 fine and formal warning against Buzz Group Ltd. As we only publish regulatory actions for the last three years, this regulatory action will no longer be displayed on the Commission's current public-register page for Buzz Group Limited as it occurred in 2021.
Often, links to publications may still be visible on search engines, however any recorded regulatory actions against operators are removed from the Commission website after three years.
Question 11
Please note, the brand names ‘Gala’ and ‘Buzz’ are the same group, as detailed here: Gala / Buzz Bingo Halls Case Study | Bell Group.
The Commission can advise that the operator uses brand names depending on locality. For example, within your request, the operator has used the brand name ‘Gala.’ However, in other cities the operator may use the brand name ‘Buzz.’
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