Charitable collections

Background

Charitable collections are currently regulated by two separate Acts of Parliament:

• The Police, Factories, etc, (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 regulates collections of money or sales of articles for charitable purposes in streets or public places
• The House to House Collections Act 1939 regulates collections of money or other articles made by means of going from house to house

The city council is the licensing authority for both types of collection, although it is possible for nationally based charities to obtain exemption orders from the Charity Commission enabling house to house collections to be carried out over a wide area, subject to notice to local authorities. Small house to house collections, such as carol singing in a limited area for a local worthy cause, can be granted an exemption certificate by the Police - please contact you local police station.

Forms

The following forms and documents are available from the links below:

• street collection permit application form
• street collection regulations
• advice on the use of pedestrian precincts and privately owned areas for collections
• house to house collection licences application form

The House to House Collections Regulations 1947 are available in hard copy only via the Office of Public Sector Information (link below) or through public libraries.

Policy

The city council's policy on street collections includes the following:

• Each organisation will be restricted to one city centre collection per year (including, but not exclusively, Above Bar, Above Bar Pedestrian Precinct, High Street, the Bargate and adjoining streets and open places)
• In exceptional circumstances, such as an emergency appeal, consideration may be given to the grant of additional permits
• The city council reserves the right to conduct a criminal records check on the applicant for a permit to determine their suitability to conduct a charitable collection.
• No further permits will be granted to an organisation until a satisfactory return for every previous street collection by that organisation has been received by the city council

Applications for permits are dealt with on a first come, first served basis, with organisations usually being granted exclusive use of a particular area for their collection.

Fees

There are no fees chargeable for either type of application.

Registers of Collections

Registers of current street collections and house to house collections are available via the Online Licensing Register link above; current extracts appear below.

Other Collections

The following examples are not comprehensive, but are provided to assist fund-raisers and the public.

Collections conducted

• entirely within shop premises, or
• by means of static collection boxes in private premises

will not require a street collection permit.

Collections made

• adjacent to public thoroughfares (such as in shop doorways), or
• in premises to which the public have unrestricted access without payment (such as indoor shopping centres)

will require a street collection permit.

Collections made, for example, by visiting more than one public house, with landlords' consent, will require a house to house collection licence.

The activities of direct debit mandate collectors (so-called "chuggers") are not regulated by the law, and are not therefore subject to any licensing provision. Please make any complaints about their activities to the charity which they represent, the Police or the Charity Commission.

Future developments

The Charities Act 2006, which received Royal Assent on 8th November 2006, consolidates and amends the law on charitable collections, but has not yet been brought into force. The Charities Act 2006 and its accompanying explanatory notes are available from Legislation.gov.uk (link below).

A new Charities Bill was published in March 2011 which seeks to consolidate the various charity legislation; however, it does not deal with public charitable collections. It is understood that the regulation of public charitable collections will be the the subject of consultation by the Cabinet Office at a later date. When further information is known, details will appear here.

Further information

Information is available via the links below about the registration of charities and charitable activities from the Charity Commission and the Cabinet Office list of those charities that have been exempted under section 3 of the House to House Collections Act 1939 from the need to make application to local authorities.

For further information about charitable collections, please contact the licensing team.

Opening hours

Members of the licensing team will normally be available at Southbrook Rise, 4-8 Millbrook Road East, Southampton SO15 1YG, to assist personal callers on weekdays between 09:00 and 12:00 and between 14:00 and 16:00. We may be available at other times by prior appointment.

Please note that the addresses and numbers given below should only be used for communication with the licensing team.