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 24/06/2021

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 ‘a full list of the organisations and individuals who were regarded as formal stakeholders, or who have otherwise been consulted, during the development of the fourth National Lottery licence?’

Please see the following list of the external stakeholders that have been engaged as part of the competition to date:

Political
• All members of UK Parliament (including DCMS)
• All members of the Scottish Parliament
• All members of the Welsh Senedd
• All members of the Northern Ireland Assembly

Trade bodies
• Association of Convenience Stores
• British Independent Retailers Association
• British Retail Consortium
• Confederation of British Industry

National Lottery Family
• Arts Council England
• National Lottery Heritage Fund
• UK Sport
• SportScotland
• Creative Scotland
• Sport England
• Arts Council Northern Ireland
• Sport Northern Ireland
• British Film Institute
• Arts Council Wales
• Sport Wales
• National Lottery Community Fund
• National Lottery Promotions Unit

We also met with 27 potential applicants and, as part of the application process, we had discussions with those applicants about policy and the design of the fourth licence. However, the Commission considers the identity of those applicants to be of a commercially sensitive nature and as such it is our view that this information is exempt under section 43(2) of the FOIA.

Section 43(2) (“Commercial Interests”) provides that: Information is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public authority holding it). Section 43 requires that we consider arguments for and against the disclosure of this information to identify whether there is a wider public interest in fulfilling this request as opposed to maintaining the exemption.

There is a legitimate public interest in promoting the transparency of the Commission, making information available to the public and in understanding the implementation of the 4th National Lottery Competition. We consider that fulfilling this request would discourage those participating in the 4NLC from freely providing information to the Commission in future, which would prejudice the Commission’s ability to run a successful competition.

The National Lottery is an instrument for providing money to good causes and the 4NLC aims, through healthy competition, to seek out the best candidate to run the new Lottery licence and deliver this work. Fulfilling this request would be informative to potential competitors and could have a significant impact upon the ability of the Commission to operate a successful and fair lottery competition. The Commission have a statutory duty to maximise returns to good causes and, consequently, the weaker the competition the greater the risk that we do not meet that statutory duty.

Further to this, the Commission will be proactively publishing information about the 4NLC in the future and at appropriate times throughout the competition.

Having weighed these issues, the Commission is of the view that the public interest is best served through maintaining this exemption.

Kind regards

Review of the decision

If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request and wish us to conduct a 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.

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.

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.