UKGC Withholds Operator Meeting Data
Regulator cites excessive costs to refuse disclosure of meetings and site visits with land-based gambling companies.
The UK Gambling Commission has refused to release details of its meetings and site visits with land-based operators, citing excessive costs. The decision, based on a Freedom of Information request, blocks public insight into the regulator's compliance and investigation activities between November 2024 and January 2025.
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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has withheld information about its meetings and site visits with land-based gambling operators, preventing public scrutiny of its direct engagement with the industry.
In response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 17 May 2025, the regulator stated that compiling the data would exceed the cost limits permitted under UK law. The decision means that details of which operators were met for investigations or compliance discussions between November 2024 and January 2025 will not be made public.
Why This Data Matters
For consumers, information about regulatory meetings and investigations provides a valuable insight into the compliance landscape. Knowing which operators are subject to enhanced scrutiny can help individuals make more informed decisions about where they choose to gamble. This type of data serves as a key indicator of the regulator's enforcement priorities and its oversight of the land-based sector, which includes high street bookmakers, bingo halls, and casinos.
Details of the Request
The FOI request asked the Commission to confirm all meetings and site visits with land-based operators for the three-month period from November 2024 to January 2025. It specifically sought to distinguish between interactions related to active investigations and those for general operational discussions.
For each confirmed meeting, the request asked for:
- The date of the meeting or visit
- The name of the operator involved
- The general purpose of the engagement
- The location (Commission offices or operator premises)
The Commission's Refusal
The UKGC confirmed that it holds information within the scope of the request but refused to provide it, invoking Section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
This exemption allows public authorities to refuse requests where the cost of compliance would exceed the 'appropriate limit', set at £450. This figure is equivalent to one person spending 18 hours to locate, retrieve, and extract the requested information.
In its response, the Commission explained that the relevant details are not held in a central location. Instead, they are spread across "a number of calendars and records" throughout the organisation. To fulfil the request, staff would need to manually review each entry to identify relevant meetings and extract the specific details, a task the UKGC estimates would take "in excess of 18 hours."
Significance for Transparency
The refusal highlights a potential gap in the centralised tracking of regulatory activities at the UKGC. The fact that data on meetings with licensed operators is too fragmented to be compiled within the statutory time limit prevents public and media oversight of the Commission's day-to-day enforcement work.
While the regulator suggested the request could be refined, it noted that "it is unlikely that this information can be retrieved and compiled... within the appropriate limit." This leaves consumers and industry observers without a clear picture of the frequency and nature of the UKGC's direct interventions with the land-based gambling sector during the specified period.