Agenda item

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection in respect of current legislation for managing street and house to house charity collections.  The report sought to introduce a Charity Collections Policy to ensure all relevant parties were aware of the criteria to be adhered to.  Members noted that previous decisions were taken on custom and practice and the Policy before them would give greater flexibility to decision-making when using non-statutory criteria.

During the discussion and questions, the following points were noted:

• Open buckets were only permitted on private land (including station forecourts) but not on highways or open spaces. 

• Members asked for regular summary reports showing a list of collectors, the number of boxes and the amounts in each box.

• The Policy would be reviewed every 3 years, in line with other Licensing Policies.

• ‘Chuggers’ were self-regulated but could incur penalty points in the event of a breach and would be stopped from operating after a certain number.  They were not permitted to take cash or cheques and most signed up to self-regulation.  The City of London Corporation had the authority to decide on numbers, location and days etc.  Whilst they had not, so far, entered into such an agreement, they report any breaches to the appropriate organisation and regularly approached Chuggers and asked for their credentials. Members noted that there had been no complaints this year. 

• In respect of the 25m distance between collectors, Members noted that this was a statutory requirement, over which the City of London Corporation had no jurisdiction.  Similarly, all animals were prohibited and the regulations were silent in respect of guide dogs. 

• Members suggested that the word ‘exceptional’ in the following paragraph be replaced with ‘at its discretion’:  Permits will normally be granted for one day only and permit collections to be held on a Tuesday or a Friday. In exceptional cases the At its discretion, the City of London Corporation may grant a permit in excess of one day. Should an applicant wish to hold a collection on another day of the week this will be at the discretion of the Corporation and take into account such factors as other events and collections taking place etc.  
• The Policy would be sent to all collectors who applied for a permit and a copy would be placed on the website.  Members suggested that all regular collectors be contacted and advised of the new Policy. 

• The Licensing Manager advised that all collectors were required to present a letter from their organisation with their application form and to wear badges during the collection.  All collection boxes must be numbered and the amounts within them accounted for.  However, Licensing Officers did not have the power to seize collection boxes, detain alleged fraudsters or prosecute.  In order to provide further protection against fraudulent collectors, a Member suggested advising all premises of the new Policy and to ensure that they too checked credentials.  Officers also agreed to include the Policy in Licence Renewal notices. 

• In respect of the 1947 legislation, which looked quite dated, officers advised that they would reproduce a typed copy of this if not too lengthy, or provide a link to one of the Government sites. 

RESOLVED, that - the Charity Collections Policy, as set out in Paragraph 1 to the report, be adopted, subject to the comments set out above.