Gaps in UK Gambling Data as Councils Fail to Report

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A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed significant gaps in the data collected on gambling activities across Great Britain, with dozens of local authorities failing to submit their annual returns to the Gambling Commission (UKGC).

The disclosure, dated 11 November 2023, shows that the national picture of land-based gambling is incomplete due to these missing submissions. The data forms the basis of the UKGC's official 'Licensing Authority Statistics', a key resource for tracking industry trends.

Why This Data Matters

Local authorities (LAs) are responsible for licensing gambling premises in their area, including betting shops, arcades, and bingo halls. Each year, they are required to submit an 'LA Return' to the Gambling Commission, providing data on the number of premises, permits issued, and local enforcement actions.

This information is vital for consumers, researchers, and policymakers. It provides a transparent overview of the scale of gambling in a specific town or city and helps the UKGC maintain effective national oversight. When this data is missing, it becomes impossible to build a complete and accurate picture of the UK's gambling landscape.

Key Findings from the FOI Response

While the UKGC did not provide a simple list of non-submitting councils as requested, it directed the applicant to its published statistics. The Commission explained that non-submitting LAs could be identified by a '-' symbol in the data spreadsheet.

The key takeaways from the response include:

• Missing 2022-23 Data: The most recent published data for 2022-23 initially showed 54 missing submissions from local authorities.
• Data Lag: The UKGC noted that this figure was already out of date, as its compliance team had since chased up outstanding returns. The revised, more accurate figures will only be reflected in the following year's publication, creating a significant data lag.
• Historical Gaps: The response confirmed that similar data gaps exist for previous years, including 2019-20 and 2020-21. The Commission noted a higher number of non-returns for 2020-21 was due to several local authority mergers, meaning some of the listed LAs no longer exist.

Partial Exemption and Future Publication

The UKGC applied a partial exemption under Section 22 of the FOIA, which covers information intended for future publication. The regulator argued that compiling the data for the FOI request was not a cost-effective use of resources when the updated information would be published in its annual statistical release.

In its public interest test, the Commission acknowledged the need for transparency but concluded that the public interest was better served by allowing it to follow its established publication schedule.

Significance for Regulation and Transparency

The failure of dozens of local authorities to provide timely data raises questions about the consistency of gambling regulation at a local level. These data gaps mean that the official national statistics, used to inform government policy and public debate, are based on an incomplete dataset.

For consumers, it means that information about the number and type of gambling venues in their local area may be inaccurate or unavailable, reducing transparency and hindering efforts to understand the impact of gambling on their community.