Licenced Betting Offices in Bath and North East Somerset 2007-13

The request was partially successful.

Richard Richardson

Dear Bath and North East Somerset Council,

Please could you release to me information on how many Licensed Betting Offices were licensed in the borough in each year from 2007 to 2013.

For clarity: I wish to understand the total number of bookmakers licenced in each year 2007-13 and how that has changed over time.

This means that licenced bookmakers whose licences have lapsed, been surrendered or have been revoked need to be included, just information of when the currently licenced premises were first licenced is potentially misleading when analysing the trend over time.

Some councils make their current register available online,
unfortunately this gives just the current number not the historic trend.

Yours faithfully,

Richard Richardson

Information Governance, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Dear Mr Richardson,

Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

Thank you for your recent request for information, a copy of which is
enclosed below. Your request is now being dealt with under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 a public authority has to
respond within 20 working days.  Accordingly you will receive our full
response in due course.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Kim Stephens

Information Compliance Officer

Risk and Assurance Services

Bath & North East Somerset Council

Telephone: 01225 396658

Facsimile: 01225 477387

[1]www.bathnes.gov.uk

 

Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work and
visit.

 

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Information Governance, Bath and North East Somerset Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Richardson,

 

Thank you for your recent request for information. Please find enclosed
the information you are entitled to receive under the (legislation).

 

I trust that we have answered your queries, however if you have any
further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

If you are unhappy with the response to your request, you may ask for an
internal review within 40 working days of receipt of this request. Please
contact the Divisional Director – Risk and Assurance Services, Mr Jeff
Wring at the Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW
[1]mailto:[email address].

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.

 

Please note that we have not, by way of this disclosure, granted any
permission for you to reuse or further publish the information disclosed
to you.  Please refer to the attached disclaimer regarding reuse. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Andy Marshall

Information Compliance Manager

Risk and Assurance Services

Bath & North East Somerset Council

Telephone: 01225 477961

Facsimile: 01225 477387

[3]www.bathnes.gov.uk

 

Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work and
visit.

 

Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

 

From:  Richard Richardson <[FOI #205143 email]>

Sent:    02 April 2014 10:28

To:       Information Governance

Subject:           Freedom of Information request - Licenced Betting
Offices in Bath and North

East Somerset 2007-13

 

 

Dear Bath and North East Somerset Council,

 

Please could you release to me information on how many Licensed Betting
Offices were licensed in the

borough in each year from 2007 to 2013.

 

For clarity: I wish to understand the total number of bookmakers licenced
in each year 2007-13 and how

that has changed over time.

 

This means that licenced bookmakers whose licences have lapsed, been
surrendered or have been

revoked need to be included, just information of when the currently
licenced premises were first

licenced is potentially misleading when analysing the trend over time.

 

Some councils make their current register available online, unfortunately
this gives just the current

number not the historic trend.

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Richard Richardson

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/

Richard Richardson

Dear Information Governance,

Thanks for this response, I do have a couple of queries though re the totals for 2010 and 2012.
2007 - 20
2008 - 20
2009 - 19 (+1 -2)
2010 - 16 (+1 -3) ?lapse
2011 - 16 (+1)
2012 - 17 (+1 -1) ?16
2013 - 17 (+1)

I think the 2010 figure of 16 is right but as there is no column for lapsed as opposed to surrendered or revoked I am assuming this is what happened (it matches the renewal number). Am I correct that one lapsed in 2010?

The 2012 figure is more puzzling, with one new and one surrendered the total should probably be 16 not 17 with the 2013 additional licence bringing the total up to 17 in 2013. Is this correct?

Once again thank you for your time on this matter

Yours sincerely,

Richard Richardson

Information Governance, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Dear Mr Richardson,

 

Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

Thank you for your recent request for information, a copy of which is
enclosed below. Your request is now being dealt with under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

 

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 a public authority has to
respond within 20 working days.  Accordingly you will receive our full
response in due course.

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Kim Stephens

Information Compliance Officer

Risk and Assurance Services

Bath & North East Somerset Council

Telephone: 01225 396658

Facsimile: 01225 477387

[1]www.bathnes.gov.uk

 

Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work and
visit.

 

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

 

 

 

show quoted sections

Information Governance, Bath and North East Somerset Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Richardson,

 

Thank you for your recent request for information. Please find enclosed
the information you are entitled to receive under the (legislation).

 

I trust that we have answered your queries, however if you have any
further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

If you are unhappy with the response to your request, you may ask for an
internal review within 40 working days of receipt of this request. Please
contact the Divisional Director – Risk and Assurance Services, Mr Jeff
Wring at the Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW
[1]mailto:[email address].

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.

 

Please note that we have not, by way of this disclosure, granted any
permission for you to reuse or further publish the information disclosed
to you.  Please refer to the attached disclaimer regarding reuse. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Andy Marshall

Information Compliance Manager

Risk and Assurance Services

Bath & North East Somerset Council

Telephone: 01225 477961

Facsimile: 01225 477387

[3]www.bathnes.gov.uk

 

Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work and
visit.

 

Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

 

From:  Richard Richardson <[FOI #205143 email]>

Sent:    23 April 2014 20:08

To:       Information Governance

Subject:           Re: Request 610/14

 

 

Dear Information Governance,

 

Thanks for this response, I do have a couple of queries though re the
totals for 2010 and 2012.

2007 - 20

2008 - 20

2009 - 19 (+1 -2)

2010 - 16 (+1 -3) ?lapse

2011 - 16 (+1)

2012 - 17 (+1 -1) ?16

2013 - 17 (+1)

 

I think the 2010 figure of 16 is right but as there is no column for
lapsed as opposed to surrendered or

revoked I am assuming this is what happened (it matches the renewal
number). Am I correct that one

lapsed in 2010?

 

The 2012 figure is more puzzling, with one new and one surrendered the
total should probably be 16

not 17 with the 2013 additional licence bringing the total up to 17 in
2013. Is this correct?

 

Once again thank you for your time on this matter

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Richard Richardson

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/

Richard Richardson

Dear Information Governance,

Thanks for this confirmation that the category "lapsed" does not affect the total. I appreciate that transfers of ownership can create confusion but the totals for 2010 and 2012 remain unexplained and anomalous.

Please could you check the totals again as the reported change does not match the reported total in these years.

Thank you

Yours sincerely,

Richard Richardson

Information Governance, Bath and North East Somerset Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Richardson,

 

Thank you for your recent request for information. Please find enclosed
the information you are entitled to receive under the (legislation).

 

I trust that we have answered your queries, however if you have any
further questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

If you are unhappy with the response to your request, you may ask for an
internal review within 40 working days of receipt of this request. Please
contact the Divisional Director – Risk and Assurance Services, Mr Jeff
Wring at the Guildhall, High St, Bath BA1 5AW
[1]mailto:[email address].

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to appeal directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
[2]www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.

 

Please note that we have not, by way of this disclosure, granted any
permission for you to reuse or further publish the information disclosed
to you.  Please refer to the attached disclaimer regarding reuse. 

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Andy Marshall

Information Compliance Manager

Risk and Assurance Services

Bath & North East Somerset Council

Telephone: 01225 477961

Facsimile: 01225 477387

[3]www.bathnes.gov.uk

 

Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work and
visit.

 

Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

 

From: Richard Richardson
[[4]mailto:[FOI #205143 email]]
Sent: 30 May 2014 11:32
To: Information Governance
Subject: Re: Request 745/14

 

Dear Information Governance,

 

Thanks for this confirmation that the category "lapsed" does not affect
the total. I appreciate that transfers of ownership can create confusion
but the totals for 2010 and 2012 remain unexplained and anomalous.

 

Please could you check the totals again as the reported change does not
match the reported total in these years.

 

Thank you

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Richard Richardson

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk/
3. http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/
4. mailto:[FOI #205143 email]

Richard Richardson

Dear Bath and North East Somerset Council,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Bath and North East Somerset Council's handling of my FOI request 'Licenced Betting Offices in Bath and North East Somerset 2007-13'.

Whilst I accept that a genuine effort has been made to respond fully to my request the data supplied is internally inconsistent. It cannot be accurate as the running total does not match the changes reported, in particular for the years 2010 and 2012.

I recognise that this is an interrogation of a database and so may have anomalies but there is a statutory duty on the council under the Gambling Act 2005 to maintain a register of licencing events and make that available to the public. The council should have, indeed does, have the information to check and if necessary correct these anomalies by examining that register.

The statutory duty is detailed under this clause of the 2005 Act

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005...

Please could you review the information supplied and whether all sources of the information requested have been checked in order to resolve these anomalies.

You may also wish to check that the council's statutory duty is being met with regard to this licence register as a register with clear anomalies/errors would not meet the statutory duty.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...

I would like to thank you and all those who have responded for their time on this matter which has been dealt with professionally and with clear good intent, unfortunately the anomalies in the information supplied remain.

Thank you

Yours faithfully,

Richard Richardson

Jeff Wring, Bath and North East Somerset Council

Dear Mr Richardson,

 

Thank you for your email and request for an internal review.

 

Our policy is to aim to complete a review within 20 working days dependent
on the volume and nature of information involved and so I will be in touch
in the near future.

 

Regards

 

Jeff Wring

Divisional Director – Risk & Assurance

Bath & North East Somerset Council

 

show quoted sections

Jeff Wring, Bath and North East Somerset Council

2 Attachments

Dear Mr Richardson,

 

Please find our response to your recent request for an internal review.

 

Kind Regards

 

Jeff Wring

Divisional Director – Risk & Assurance

Resources

Guildhall

Bath

 

From:    Richard Richardson
<[1][FOI #205143 email]>

Sent:     18 June 2014 11:19

To:          Information Governance

Subject:               Internal review of Freedom of Information request -
Licenced Betting Offices

in Bath and North East Somerset 2007-13

 

Categories:         Kim

 

Dear Bath and North East Somerset Council,

 

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information
reviews.

 

I am writing to request an internal review of Bath and North East Somerset
Council's handling of

my FOI request 'Licenced Betting Offices in Bath and North East Somerset
2007-13'.

 

Whilst I accept that a genuine effort has been made to respond fully to my
request the data

supplied is internally inconsistent. It cannot be accurate as the running
total does not match the

changes reported, in particular for the years 2010 and 2012.

 

I recognise that this is an interrogation of a database and so may have
anomalies but there is a

statutory duty on the council under the Gambling Act 2005 to maintain a
register of licencing

events and make that available to the public. The council should have,
indeed does, have the

information to check and if necessary correct these anomalies by examining
that register.

 

The statutory duty is detailed under this clause of the 2005 Act

 

[2]http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005...

 

Please could you review the information supplied and whether all sources
of the information

requested have been checked in order to resolve these anomalies.

 

You may also wish to check that the council's statutory duty is being met
with regard to this

licence register as a register with clear anomalies/errors would not meet
the statutory duty.

 

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on
the Internet at this

address:
[3]https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...

 

I would like to thank you and all those who have responded for their time
on this matter which

has been dealt with professionally and with clear good intent,
unfortunately the anomalies in the

information supplied remain.

 

Thank you

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Richard Richardson

 

show quoted sections

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #205143 email]
2. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005...
3. https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/l...