Gambling Business Group gains answers

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The UK’s Gambling Business Group, an organisation of leading business interests in the gambling industry, has obtained answers about financial sanctions imposed by the country’s Gambling Commission.



Using a ‘freedom of information’ request, it has learned that sanctions totalling £58,946,578 over a five and a half year period had been imposed. It is two years since the GBG had approached the Gambling Commission directly for the information, but had resorted to the freedom of information route.

The Gambling Commission had taken £756,997 from the sanctions to cover its own costs in carrying out investigations. Of the total, £24m had been returned to the victims of illegal gambling activity and a further £34,843,338 had gone to ‘socially responsible purposes’.

Peter Hannibal, CEO of the GBG, said: “When we first wrote to the then minister, Tracey Crouch, and subsequently requested the information from the Commission, we were informed (by the Gambling Commission) that they did not consider it to be a priority.

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Under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, citizens have the right to request information from any publicly funded body and to get answers, which I’m pleased to say we have now received.

“Apart from the straightforward issue of why did it take an FOI request to get this information in the first place, it appears that the Commission does not have an independent process in place for checking whether the funds they have allocated to socially responsible purposes have been spent effectively and have delivered the impact intended. This is despite the fact that within the Commission’s own Statement of Principles there is an obligation to meaningfully evaluate the effectiveness of the spend on socially responsible purposes.” 

He added: “One of the few things that all stakeholders in UK Gambling can agree on is that all RET financial resources are vitally important and should be spent where they are most effective in reducing and preventing harm. Whether these funds are raised through donations, or via a levy, or as in this case through financial penalties, all funds are equally valuable and should as a result be subject to effective valuation.”

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The full FOI response can be viewed at gamblingbusinessgroup.co.uk 

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