Overview

We want to hear your views on our draft Charitable Collections Policy for Buckinghamshire Council.
As the Licensing Authority, we regulate:
- house to house collections – collection of money or goods from someone's home for charity
- street collections – collection of money or selling articles for charity in any street or public place (such as a shop doorway or car park)
There is no fee for a house to house collection licence or street collection permit but you could be fined if you collect without a licence or permit.
Draft Buckinghamshire Council Charitable Collections Policy
The draft policy sets out:
- the legal requirements
- the application process
- our approach to preventing nuisance to residents and businesses in Buckinghamshire
- our approach to enforcing unlicensed activities
The draft policy aims to ensure that:
- the interests of public donors and beneficiaries are safeguarded
- collections are carried out to high standards by bona fide, authorised charitable organisations
- proceeds of the collection are properly accounted for
- a fair proportion of the proceeds are donated to registered charities
- unacceptable nuisance to the public is prevented
- unlicensed collections are prevented from taking place
- action is taken where there is evidence of unlicensed collection activity
The policy will cover the Buckinghamshire Council area. It will replace any charitable collections policies from the previous district councils.
This policy is for anyone applying to carry out either a house to house or street collection. It provides information for anyone collecting and members of the public affected.
Licensing applications must be made:
- at least 28 days before collecting
- no more than 12 months before collecting
The draft policy follows legislation, including the Model Regulations, and guidance from relevant organisations.
These include The National Association of Licensing Enforcement Officers, Chartered Institute of Fundraisers, and the Fundraising Regulator.
More information about the development of the draft Buckinghamshire Council Charitable Collections Policy (PDF 0.44MB).
What we are proposing
For house to house collections, we are proposing to:
- require a licence for collecting direct debit information house to house
- restrict house to house collections to 9:00am to 7:00pm – no collections will be permitted where a “no cold calling” or similar notice is displayed
- allow only one house to house collection in any one council ward area on any given day, other than for exceptions stated in the policy
- grant licences for a maximum of 14 days
- allow charities one house to house licence per calendar quarter (January to March etc.)
- require charities to submit a declaration confirming that they are satisfied with the amount being donated to charitable causes by commercial collectors
- require applicants provide evidence of public liability insurance for a minimum of £5 million
For street collections, we are proposing to:
- regulate street collections by adopting the Model Regulations (see draft policy appendix 3, PDF 0.26MB) – the industry standard for street collections
- restrict street collections to 8:00am to 8:00pm
- limit street collections in any one location to one charity on any given day
- restrict street collections to town and village centres
- allow one street collection permit per charity per calendar quarter (January to March etc.)
- subject collectors proposing to use animals to additional checks –including a requirement for specific risk assessments and insurance cover
- require charities to submit a declaration confirming that they are satisfied with the amount being donated to charitable causes by commercial collectors
- require applicants provide evidence of public liability insurance for a minimum of £5 million
- issue permits in-line with existing Site Management Agreements (SMAs)
Related documents
Before you respond to this activity, please have a look at the following document:
How to have your say
You can tell us your views in one of the following ways:
If you have any questions about this consultation, please email us at licensing@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or phone us on 01296 585605.
Please tell us your views by midnight on Tuesday 20 June 2023.
What happens next
We will use your responses to develop the final Buckinghamshire Council Charitable Collections Policy.
The policy will then be presented to our Licensing Committee for approval and adoption in Summer 2023.
We will review the policy every 5 years.
Privacy
We will use the information you provide here only for this activity. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws and will not share or publish any personal details. For more information about data and privacy, please see our Privacy Policy.
If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk. Or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.
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