UKGC Lacks Historical Data on Gambling Premises

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UKGC Confirms No Central Record of Historical Premises Data

A Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosure has revealed that the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) does not hold historical data on the number of licensed gambling premises operating in Great Britain. The finding highlights a significant data gap for anyone seeking to analyse long-term trends in the land-based gambling sector from a central source.

The request, dated 14 March 2025, asked the regulator for a list of all gambling premises that were open at the beginning of 2022, 2023, and 2024. Such data is crucial for researchers, local authorities, and consumers trying to understand the changing landscape of high street gambling.

What the FOI Response Revealed

In its response, the UKGC explained that it cannot fulfil the request because it does not retain historical versions of its premises licence register. The Commission maintains a 'live' public register that is updated nightly, reflecting the current status of licensed venues. However, previous versions are not archived.

"The Gambling Commission does not retain historical records or previously published versions of the premises licence register," the regulator stated. "The register is generated dynamically, pulling data directly from our live systems at the point of publication. As such, we do not hold specific records of premises licences for previous years."

While the UKGC provided the requester with a spreadsheet of currently active premises, it confirmed this was the most up-to-date list and could not be used to determine which venues were open in previous years.

Why This Data Matters

For consumers and community groups, understanding the density and change in the number of gambling venues—such as betting shops, adult gaming centres, and casinos—is key to assessing gambling's local impact. Without a centralised, historical national database, tracking whether the number of premises is growing or shrinking nationwide becomes a complex task.

The UKGC's response clarifies a crucial aspect of UK gambling regulation: the Commission does not issue premises licences itself. This responsibility falls to local licensing authorities, typically the local council for the area.

The Implications for Transparency

The disclosure means that to build a comprehensive historical picture of Britain's gambling premises, one would need to contact hundreds of individual licensing authorities across the country. This decentralised system presents a major hurdle for national-level research and oversight.

This lack of centrally available historical data makes it difficult to:

• Track industry trends: It is challenging to verify industry-wide claims of a shrinking or expanding high street presence.
• Assess policy impact: Measuring the effect of regulatory changes on the number and location of gambling venues over time is complicated.
• Inform local planning: Communities and councils cannot easily compare their situation to a national historical benchmark.

While the UKGC's live register provides a valuable snapshot of the current landscape, this FOI response confirms that tracking the evolution of that landscape over time requires a far more fragmented and labour-intensive data collection effort.