Thornton Greyhound Racing Stadium in Fife, Scotland

Request

I am seeking information in relation to licence number 054 – Thornton Greyhound Racing Stadium in Fife, Scotland. I submitted a similar request to Fife council last year and they advised the licence number in relation to stadium is 054. I can find no record of this, Thornton Greyhounds, Fife or the bookmaker who attends races, [REDACTED], on your website. Can you please advise:

• the correct reference number;
• when this licence was granted and when it is due for renewal;
• if there are any checks carried out to ensure compliance with licence requirements and if so when these were last undertaken at Thornton and what was the outcome.

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 relating to ‘Thornton Greyhound Racing Stadium in Fife, Scotland or the bookmaker who attends races, [REDACTED]’. Specifically:

• The correct reference number;
• when this licence was granted and when it is due for renewal;
• if there are any checks carried out to ensure compliance with licence requirements and if so when these were last undertaken at Thornton and what was the outcome.

The Gambling Commission does not licence greyhound racing stadiums. Thornton Stadium is independent and therefore not regulated by the Greyhound Board of Great Britain. In independent racing the numbers of trainers, kennel staff, owners and greyhounds involved is unknown because there is no requirement for central registration or licensing, and no code of practice. As such, no information is held by the Commission falling within the scope of this part of your request.

The Gambling Commission does licence individuals to provide facilities for betting on tracks, such as greyhound tracks, as on-course bookmakers. However, information that the Commission holds identifying premises associated with individuals, would constitute personal data.

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 confirming whether we do or do not hold the information falling within the scope of your request would constitute the disclosure of personal data and would contravene this principle.

This information is therefore exempt under section 40(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Section 40(5B) provides that the duty to confirm or deny does not arise in relation to other information if or to the extent that any of the following applies—

• giving a member of the public the confirmation or denial that would have to be given to comply with section 1(1)(a)—
• would (apart from this Act) contravene any of the data protection principles.

As such we are unable to process this part of your request any further.

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