Sources of FOI requests
Request
Under the Freedom of Information Act please could you share with me:
The quantity and the detail of any FOI requests the Gambling Commission has received from industry operators in the last three years.
The quantity and the detail of any FOI requests the Gambling Commission has received from Regulus Partners in the last three years.
The quantity and the detail of any FOI requests the Gambling Commission has received from the Gamblers Consumers Forum in the last three years.
The quantity and the detail of any FOI requests the Gambling Commission has received from REDACTED in the last three years.
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested:
- The quantity and the detail of any FOI requests the Gambling Commission has received from industry operators in the last three years.
- The quantity and the detail of any FOI requests the Gambling Commission has received from Regulus Partners in the last three years.
- The quantity and the detail of any FOI requests the Gambling Commission has received from the Gamblers Consumers Forum in the last three years.
- The quantity and the detail of any FOI requests the Gambling Commission has received from REDACTED in the last three years.
Firstly, it should be noted that requests under the FOIA must be processed as ‘applicant blind’. This means that we do not take into account who has requested the information, or their reasons for asking for it when providing a response. This ensures that we are open, transparent and consistent with the information that we publish into the public domain.
Whilst section 8(1)(b) of FOIA requires that a request for information must include the requester’s name and an address for correspondence, this may not reveal any details relating to the organisation they are representing. Further to this, unless we have reasonable suspicion that a requester is using a pseudonym, we will continue to process any request as valid under any given name.
As such, whilst we are able to provide some information within the scope of your request, this may not be a true reflection of the number of requests that we have received from the organisations detailed within your request.
- I can confirm that we have recorded one request in the last three years submitted from an industry operator.
- I can confirm that we have recorded 23 requests in the last three years submitted from Regulus Partners.
- I can confirm that we have recorded one request in the last three years submitted from the Gamblers Consumers Forum.
Requests under the FOIA and our responses are published on the Gambling Commission website. Identifying the source of specific requests could reveal the identity of individual requestors, particularly, if collated with other information already available in the public domain, such as articles which have used information provided by the Commission under the FOIA. To disclose the identity of individual requestors would constitute personal data. Therefore, we are unable to provide details of specific requests the Gambling Commission has received from the organisations named in parts 1 – 3 of your request.
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 are 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.
- Finally, the FOIA provides the public with a right of access to information that is held by a Public Authority, with the intention of putting that information into the public domain. Information that is disclosed to the public via this route is considered to be released to the world at large and therefore any information that is provided in response to a request can be released to anyone who asks for it. Responses to FOIA requests are routinely published and hence publicly available.
As previously mentioned, the Data Protection Act 2018 requires the processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. If someone requests information using the FOIA that contains the personal information of another individual, we would exempt this information using section 40(5) of the FOIA and neither confirm nor deny that we hold that personal information.
It is the view of the Commission that confirming whether we do or do not hold information relating to part 4 of your request would in itself constitute the disclosure of personal data and would not be fair and lawful.
On balance, there is no legitimate public interest in confirming or denying this information and it would not be fair to do so. This information is therefore exempt under section 40(5) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
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