Unlicensed websites

Request

1. Any current internal documents providing guidance and procedures for investigating offshore, unlicensed gambling sites.
2. The criteria for when cases involving unlicensed operators are referred to the police.
3. Any guidance or criteria for referring cases involving unlicensed operators to police forces outside of the UK, including formal agreements with overseas gambling regulators or law enforcement agencies.

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. Any current internal documents providing guidance and procedures for investigating offshore, unlicensed gambling sites.
2. The criteria for when cases involving unlicensed operators are referred to the police.
3. Any guidance or criteria for referring cases involving unlicensed operators to police forces outside of the UK, including formal agreements with overseas gambling regulators or law enforcement agencies.

The Gambling Commission have published a four-part series on illegal online gambling. The series, launched in 2025, set out to improve understanding of consumer engagement with illegal online gambling, the risks it poses, and the actions being taken to disrupt it. The third chapter focuses on the disruption of the market, including the categories of third-party organisations the Commission engaged with and some of the metrics used to assess the effectiveness of this work. In order to be of assistance, please see the following information available on the Gambling Commission website:

• Summary of disruption activity
• Case studies
• New tactics coming into use
• Conclusion and looking ahead

The Commission is a regulatory body with licensing, compliance and enforcement functions. Through our regulatory enforcement activity, the Commission aims to protect consumers and the wider public, and to raise standards in the gambling industry. Part of our statutory remit and a key licensing objective is to keep crime out of gambling. When consumers access potentially illegal gambling sites, they expose themselves to many risks and are not afforded the protections in place that are expected in the regulated sector.

I can confirm that the Commission does hold further information falling within the scope of your request. However, releasing this level of detail would reveal the methods and techniques the Commission uses as part of regulatory work. We are of the view that the disclosure of this information would prejudice the regulatory functions of the commission. As such, this information is exempt under section 31 of the FOIA.

Section 31

Section 31(1)(g) exempts information whose disclosure would, or would be likely to, prejudice the exercise by any public authority of its functions for any of the purposes specified in subsection (2).

The Commission considers the subsections below apply and therefore the information is exempt from disclosure:

i. Subsection 31(2)(a) refers to the purpose of ascertaining whether any person has failed to comply with the law,

ii. Subsection 31(2)(b) refers to the purpose of ascertaining whether any person is responsible for any conduct which is improper,

iii. Subsection 31(2)(c) refers to the purpose of ascertaining whether circumstances which would justify regulatory action in pursuance of any enactment exist or may arise.

Public interest test

The factors the Commission has considered when applying the public interest test have been detailed below.

Arguments in favour of disclosure:

• 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 the Commission is being open and honest with the information it holds so that it can be held to account.
• Furthermore, this disclosure may encourage stakeholders to work with us and contribute to our programme of work, increasing confidence in the Commission as a regulator and its ability to uphold the law.

Arguments in favour of maintaining the exemption:

• There is an expectation of confidence in much of the Commission’s work, particularly when discussing potential areas of non-compliance with the LCCP. It is the impact on this work of the Commission which is more likely to be affected by disclosure.
• The Gambling Commission’s statutory obligations as set out in section 22 of the Gambling Act 2005 are:

i. preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime,

ii. ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way, and

iii. protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

• The Commission will not disclose information if it might jeopardise these important functions. Disclosure of this information would also undermine the Commission's ability to uphold these objectives, which would impact on the trust and confidence of the public in it as a regulator.
• The Commission has robust and effective processes and procedures in place which are utilised as part of our strategy to tackling illegal markets. These procedures and processes have been put in place to minimise the risk of a product being offered without an appropriate licence.
• It could seriously impact the Commission’s investigation process, if details of what information it uses to inform its regulatory activities became known; this is strongly not in the public interest as it would impair the Commission’s ability to regulate effectively
• The Commission routinely provides updates to the public about its regulatory actions. It considers that the public interest in transparency, accountability, and public awareness of how the Commission handles regulatory concerns is therefore met by this level of disclosure.

Weighing the balance

The Commission acknowledges that there is a public interest in promoting the accountability and transparency of public authorities and the importance of having sufficient information in the public domain to support consumers with their choice of operator. However, disclosure of the information would be damaging to the Commission as a regulatory body which ultimately serves to protect the wider public interest. We consider that the public interest is better served by withholding this information.

Further information on how the Commission tackles illegal gambling can be found on our website, here: How we tackle illegal gambling.

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