UKGC Withholds Lottery Licence Witness Statements
Regulator cites court records exemption to block release of executive's statements from the 2022 legal challenge.
The UK Gambling Commission has refused a Freedom of Information request for witness statements made by a senior executive during the legal dispute over the Fourth National Lottery Licence. Citing an absolute exemption for court records, the regulator has blocked the release of documents central to understanding its defence in the case.
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UKGC Blocks Release of Key Lottery Licence Documents
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has refused to release witness statements from a senior executive concerning the legal battle over the Fourth National Lottery Licence. In a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request dated 18 August 2023, the regulator confirmed it holds the documents but is withholding them from public view.
The decision prevents scrutiny of key evidence provided by the Commission during the high-profile legal challenge to its handling of the lottery licence competition, a process that determines the operator of one of the UK's largest institutions for a decade.
Context: A Contentious Licence Award
The FOI request sought three witness statements made by John Tanner, the UKGC's Executive Director and the Senior Responsible Officer for the lottery licence competition. These statements were prepared in April and May 2022 for court proceedings initiated by International Game Technology (IGT), one of the bidders that lost out to Allwyn Entertainment.
IGT's legal challenge questioned the fairness and legality of the Commission's decision-making process. Although the case was later discontinued, the documents created for it contain the UKGC's formal, sworn defence of its actions. The requester argued that as the documents were provided by a public official for a case that is no longer active, they should be made public.
Details of the Refusal
The Gambling Commission has withheld the information in its entirety, citing Section 32 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This section provides an exemption for information contained in court records.
Specifically, the UKGC invoked Section 32(2), which states that information is exempt if it is held only because it was part of a document placed in the custody of a court or a person conducting an inquiry.
In its response, the Commission noted: "This is an absolute exemption and therefore does not require public authorities to carry out a public interest test when considering disclosure." The regulator explained that the exemption is designed to give courts control over what information can be disclosed from legal proceedings to avoid prejudicing the legal process or infringing on legal rights.
Significance: Transparency and Accountability
This decision highlights the limits of transparency when regulatory matters enter the legal arena. While the witness statements were prepared by a public official in defence of a public body's actions, their status as court documents provides a legal shield preventing their release, even after the litigation has concluded.
For consumers and the public, this means that key details of how the UKGC defended its handling of the multi-billion-pound National Lottery contract remain confidential. The regulator's formal, evidence-based justification for its choice of operator, as presented to the court, is not available for public examination. This raises questions about the overall accountability of the process, as the full details of the legal challenge and the UKGC's response remain shielded from view.