UKGC: No Central Data on Premises Openings

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UKGC Confirms It Does Not Hold Data on Gambling Premises Opening Dates

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request has revealed that the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) does not hold centralised records on the opening and closing dates of land-based gambling premises. The disclosure highlights a significant gap in the national regulator's data on the physical gambling estate in Great Britain.

The Request and the Response

In a request dated 23 May 2024, an applicant asked for information regarding the opening and, where available, closure dates of all gambling premises. The UKGC responded by stating that the information was "not held."

In its official response, the Commission clarified its role in the licensing process:

"The Commission does not issue premises licences. As such, no information falling within the scope of your request is held by the Commission."

This confirms that while the UKGC licenses the operators and individuals running gambling businesses, the physical venues themselves are licensed at a local level.

A Fragmented System

For consumers and researchers, this means there is no single, authoritative source for tracking the history and churn of high street betting shops, casinos, or bingo halls. The UKGC explained that this responsibility is divided among numerous local authorities across the country.

Anyone seeking to build a comprehensive picture of the land-based gambling market would need to contact each individual licensing authority separately, a time-consuming and complex task.

Questions Over Published Data

The Commission does publish a live register of gambling premises on its website. However, the FOI response reiterated a crucial caveat that accompanies this data:

"...the Gambling Commission cannot provide any assurances on the completeness and accuracy of this data."

This admission underscores the difficulty in obtaining a reliable national overview. The data that is publicly available from the national regulator comes with a significant health warning about its own accuracy.

What This Means for Consumers

The lack of centralised, verified data makes it challenging for the public to analyse trends in the gambling landscape. For example, it is difficult to definitively answer questions about whether the number of betting shops is increasing or decreasing in a particular region over time using only UKGC data.

This data gap places the onus on local councils to maintain and provide accurate historical records. For consumers concerned about the concentration of gambling venues in their area, their local authority remains the primary, and often only, source for detailed information on premises licensing.