Thank you for contacting the Gambling Commission.

This inbox is for requests for recorded information held by the Commission
under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or enquiries regarding your own
personal data under the Data protection Act 2018.

Requests of this nature will receive an acknowledgement within 2 working
days with details of when you can expect a response to your enquiry.

If your email relates to matters outside of this remit, your message will
be passed to our Contact Centre for a response.

You may be able to find an answer to common queries on our Frequently
Asked Questions page. Alternatively, please check our publication scheme
as the information you are looking for may be already published.

If you would like to speak with someone for advice, you can call the
Contact Centre on 0121 230 6666 (Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday
from 10am to 4pm and Tuesday from 11am to 4pm).

Kind regards

Information Management Team
Gambling Commission
This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the
use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have
received this email in error please return it to the address it came from
indicating that you are not the intended recipient and delete it from your
system. Do not copy, distribute or take action based on this email.
Freedom of Information requests can be submitted either by email
([email address]) or by writing to: FOI request Gambling
Commission Victoria Square House Victoria Square Birmingham B2 4BP Please
clearly state that your request is under the Freedom of Information Act.

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your request for information which we are processing as a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

We aim to deal with all requests promptly and in any event, no later than 20 working days in line with the statutory requirement. In this case 01/08/2023.

For information on how we process your personal information please see our freedom of information request specific privacy notice on the Gambling Commission website

If you have any queries about this email, please contact us.

Kind regards

Freedom of Information Team
Gambling Commission
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham B2 4BP

This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please return it to the address it came from indicating that you are not the intended recipient and delete it from your system. Do not copy, distribute or take action based on this email. Freedom of Information requests can be submitted either by email ([email address]) or by writing to: FOI request Gambling Commission Victoria Square House Victoria Square Birmingham B2 4BP Please clearly state that your request is under the Freedom of Information Act.

Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

In your email you have requested “all correspondence and relevant documents passing between the Gambling Commission and the British Horseracing Authority, pertaining to the "Advice to Government - Review of the Gambling Act 2005".

When processing your request, a search was conducted, across all Commission emails for communication between @gamblingcommission.gov.uk and @britishhorseracing.com email addresses including the terms white paper OR Gambling Act Review OR GAR OR Advice to Government.

Please see the attached information we are able to provide falling within the scope of your request.

We have redacted from all of the attachments, information relating to identifiable individuals that would constitute personal data.

The Data Protection Act 2018 requires personal data to be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject. It is the view of the Commission that disclosing the personal information within the attached documents would constitute the disclosure of personal data and would contravene this principle.

This information is therefore exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Further to this, there are a small number of records held by the Commission falling within the scope of your request, which are considered to be exempt under section 41 of the FOIA

Confidentiality – Section 41

Section 41 provides an exemption under the FOIA from the right to access information where the information was provided to the public authority in confidence.

Information will be covered by Section 41 if:

i. it was obtained by the Commission from any other person (including another public authority),
ii. its disclosure would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other person.

When deciding if disclosure would constitute a breach of confidence, the Commission has to consider:

i. Whether the information has the quality of confidence.
ii. Whether it was imparted in circumstances imparting an obligation of confidence, and
iii. Whether disclosure would be an unauthorised use of the information to the detriment of the confider.

Section 41 is designed to give those who provide confidential information to public authorities, a degree of assurance that their confidences will continue to be respected, should the information fall within the scope of an FOIA request.

The information in the e-mails was provided to the Commission in confidence, following a request for information. It has the quality of confidence and was imparted in circumstances imparting an obligation of confidence.

Having considered your request and the information falling within the scope of your request, the Commission has concluded that disclosure would constitute a breach of confidence, and the BHA (along with other third parties) would have an actionable claim for breach of confidence if this information was disclosed.

The Commission considers that the public interest in disclosing this information to you is outweighed by the wider public interest in preserving the principle of confidentiality, and the impact that disclosure would have on the interests of the BHA and other third parties.

The Commission depends and relies on the free flow of confidential information from stakeholders that contribute to its statutory functions.

Section 41 gives those who give confidential information to public authorities a degree of assurance that their confidences will continue to be respected, should the information fall within the scope of an FOIA request.

Therefore, in light of the above, and on balance, this information is captured under the exemption set out in section 41 of the FOIA and therefore will not be disclosed.

Review of the decision

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email.

Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.

If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission.

The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Information Management Team
Gambling Commission
Victoria Square House
Victoria Square
Birmingham B2 4BP

This email and any files transmitted with it are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please return it to the address it came from indicating that you are not the intended recipient and delete it from your system. Do not copy, distribute or take action based on this email. Freedom of Information requests can be submitted either by email ([email address]) or by writing to: FOI request Gambling Commission Victoria Square House Victoria Square Birmingham B2 4BP Please clearly state that your request is under the Freedom of Information Act.