Ops Improvement/Transformation Programme

Request

1. The total amount of public money spent on the Operations Transformation /Operations Improvement project since 2023. Please breakdown Salaries and include operational costs etc.
2. The number of people employed for this project during the duration of the project.
3. The salaries associated with the roles of those employed on the project.
4. A description of the deliverables produced by individuals employed full-time on this project, including their responsibilities and contributions.
5. Any correspondence with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) or the DCMS Select Committee regarding the expenditure or progress of the Operations Transformation / Operations Improvement project.

Response

Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

In your email you have requested:

1. The total amount of public money spent on the Operations Transformation /Operations Improvement project since 2023. Please breakdown Salaries and include operational costs etc.
2. The number of people employed for this project during the duration of the project.
3. The salaries associated with the roles of those employed on the project.
4. A description of the deliverables produced by individuals employed full-time on this project, including their responsibilities and contributions.
5. Any correspondence with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS) or the DCMS Select Committee regarding the expenditure or progress of the Operations Transformation / Operations Improvement project.

The Gambling Commission can confirm as follows:

Question 1:

The Ops Improvement Programme did not have a stand-alone budget for 2024/25 as it was funded from the Commission’s overall Operations budget. However, the Commission can confirm that the recorded spend was £572k, all of which were staff costs.

Question 2:

Section 21 of the FOIA provides that information is exempt where it is reasonably accessible elsewhere. In order to be of assistance, please see the following: Ops Improvement Programme.

Question 3:

We are unable to provide salary information for these individual roles.

The Data Protection Act 2018 requires the processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would be disproportionate for us to publicly disclose these details unless there is a strong public interest in doing so. These individuals have a legitimate expectation that their personal details will not be disclosed in the context in which they were held.

On balance, there is no legitimate public interest in disclosing this information and it would not be fair to do so. This information is therefore exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Question 4:

The Commission can advise that information falling within the scope of your request is held. However, this information concerning contributions and deliverables is held within personal documents relating to individual performance reviews.

The Data Protection Act 2018 requires personal data to be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject. It is the view of the Commission that disclosing the personal information within the personal documents would constitute the disclosure of personal data and would contravene this principle. This information is therefore exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

However, in order to be of assistance, please see the attached job descriptions for the project that set out the purpose of each role and what it was created to deliver.

Question 5:

Please see the attached information held by the Gambling Commission we are able to disclose falling within the scope of your request. Please note, the attached information does not include papers for meetings where a DCMS member was present at the meeting.

The following exemptions apply to some of the information that we hold.

Section 40(2)

We have redacted from the attached, information relating to identifiable individuals that would constitute personal data. This includes names, email addresses and human resource files.

The Data Protection Act 2018 requires personal data to be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject. It is the view of the Commission that disclosing the personal information within the attached documents would constitute the disclosure of personal data and would contravene this principle.

This information is therefore exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Section 21 of the FOIA also provides that information is exempt where it is reasonably accessible elsewhere. In order to be of assistance, please see a copy of the 2022 to 2023 annual reports and accounts that was sent to DCMS - Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023.

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

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