Face-to-face public collections regime reform a low priority

Fundraising | Celina Ribeiro | 17 Aug 2010

Reform of regulation of public collections, decreed in the Charities Act 2006, will not go ahead until at least next year.

Minister for civil society Nick Hurd has indicated that the government does not expect the implementation of the licensing regime - which would see power for licensing both street and door-to-door cash collections come under the Charity Commission’s remit rather than dealt with by individual local authorities – to occur before the mandated review of the Act in 2011. The government is required to review all Acts five years after they are passed.

The news is no doubt a reprieve for the Charity Commission which has long expressed opposition to being given the responsibility, and whose chair, Dame Suzi Leather, has warned that the body is severely under-funded.

The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association has been calling for the implementation of the section of the Act – part 3 – which pertains to public collections licensing, and is thought to be willing to perform the role itself. With the current regime comprising of a variety of acts from the early 20th Century, the PFRA believes the system is outdated.

Nick Hurd indicated his lack of interest in the topic when speaking to fundraisers, while in Opposition, in early February. When pressed on whether he saw the implementation of the licensing regime as a priority, Hurd responded that he did not know about the issue.

The Office for Civil Society, under its previous guise of the Office for the Third Sector, commissioned consultants Modena to review the regime and the provisions the Act allows.

Directory: Charity Commission | The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA)
Who's Who: Nick Hurd

Comments

[Cancel] | Reply to:

Name *

Email *

Organisation

Job Title

Comments *

Verification *

* Please read our Community Standards

Close »

Community Standards

The civilsociety.co.uk community and comments board is intended as a platform for informed and civilised debate.

We hope to encourage a broad range of views, however, there are standards that we expect commentators to uphold. We reserve the right to delete or amend any comments that do not adhere to these standards.

We welcome:

Robust but respectful debate
Strongly held opinions
Intelligent relevant discussion
The sharing of relevant experiences
New participants

We will not publish:

Rude, threatening, offensive, obscene or abusive language, or links to such material
Links to commercial organisations or spam postings. The comments board is not an advertising platform
The posting of contact details for yourself or others
Comments intended for malicious purpose or mindless abuse
Comments purporting to be from another person or organisation under false pretences
Gratuitous criticism, commentary or self-promotion
Any material which breaches copyright or privacy laws, or could be considered libellous
The use of the comments board for the pursuit or extension of personal disputes

Be aware:

Views expressed on the comments board are left at users’ discretion and are in no way views held or supported by Civil Society Media
Comments left by others may not be accurate, do not rely on them as fact
You may be misunderstood - sarcasm and humour can easily be taken out of context, try to be clear

Please:

Enjoy the opportunity to express your opinion and respect the right of others to express theirs
Confine your remarks to issues rather than personalities

Together we can keep our community a polite, respectful and intelligent platform for discussion.