Agenda item - Street Collection Policy

Agenda item

Street Collection Policy

Minutes:

Members were asked to consider a report which detailed the draft Street Trading Policy for the purpose of consultation and to consider if the Council should seek to enter into discussion with the Public Fundraising Regulatory Authority (PFRA) in order to establish an agreement to regulate face to face fundraising in Bromsgrove Town Centre.

 

The Senior Licensing Practitioner, Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) introduced the report and in doing so informed the Committee that the Council regulates charitable collections taking place in any street or public place under the Police, Factories, etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916.  The Council can regulate collections where there was a collection of money or the selling of articles for the benefit of charitable purposes (cash collections).  The legislation did not cover face to face fundraisers who asked people in the street or other public places to sign up to donating to charitable causes by direct debit.  The Council therefore could not regulate this type of collection.  Street collections were an important method of fund raising for charitable causes.  However they can cause annoyance to the public if not suitably controlled and managed.  This can lead to the public avoiding certain areas where they believed they would be asked to donate money every time they visited the area.  It was important that those who were authorised to carry out street collections represented genuine charitable causes and were not seeking to defraud the public by pretending to collect for a charitable cause and actually using the money collected for other purposes.

 

In order to ensure that street collections were suitably controlled and managed and that applicants for permits represented genuine charitable causes, a draft policy had been produced, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report.  The draft policy proposed that street collection permits would not normally be issued for collections in Bromsgrove Town Centre on Mondays and Wednesdays.  This had been done with a view to approaching the PFRA to implement a site management agreement to restrict face to face direct debit fundraising to only take place on Mondays and Wednesdays to help avoid clashed between cash and direct debit collections.  This would also ensure that direct debit collections did not take place when the market was running on the High Street.

 

Members were being asked to approve the draft policy for the purpose of consultation.  The draft policy would be sent to the Charities Commission, Parish Councils and any person who had applied for a street collection permit during the last twelve months.  Any response receive on the draft policy would be brought back to a future meeting of the Committee.

 

The Senior Licensing Practitioner, (WRS) further informed Members that should Members approve that the Head of WRS enter into dialogue with the PFRA, with regard to establishing a site management agreement to control face to face fundraising in Bromsgrove Town Centre, the draft agreement would be presented to the Licensing Committee for discussion and comment before being signed off and implemented.

 

RESOLVED:

(a)  that the draft Street Collection Policy, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report, be approved for the purpose of consultation,

(b)  that any responses to the draft Street Collection Policy, as detailed at Appendix 1 to the report be brought back to a future meeting of the Licensing Committee;

(c)  that authority be given to the Head of Worcestershire Regulatory Services to enter into discussions with the Public Fundraising Regulatory Authority (PFRA) with regard to establishing an agreement to regulate face to face fundraising by way of direct debit in Bromsgrove Town Centre; and

(d)  that the draft agreement be presented to a future meeting of the Licensing Committee for discussion and comment.

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