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 With the current regime comprising of a variety of acts from the early 20th Century, the PFRA believes the system is outdated.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.