Environmental Health Licences

Coronavirus (COVID-19) : advice on fundraising / Fundraising Regulator

Licence Summary

To carry out house-to-house collections for charitable purposes in England and Wales you need a licence from us.

Eligibility Criteria

Applications must be made by completing an application form and giving at least one months notice before the date of the collection. There is no application fee.

You must be considered a fit and proper person.

Regulation Summary

A summary of the eligibility criteria for this licence

Application Evaluation Process

 House to House Policy

Our House to House Policy  will be used to support decisons.

A house to house collection licence can be issued for any period up to twelve months. Collections generally take place from door to door or from one public house to another.

With regard to vetting and checking to ascertain whether the organisation applying is genuine or not, the same procedures apply as for street collections and as with street collection permits there is a requirement for the promoter to demonstrate what has been collected by making a return following the collection. Returns should be made within one month of the expiry of the licence.

Private companies and individuals behind house - to - house charitable collection bags are required to ensure that their collection bags are compliant with latest guidance from the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP). In essence, commercial participants are required to communicate their name and company status on both sides of the bag.In addition to this, if the bag features a charity's name,it must not be given greater prominence than the name of the company undertaking the collection.In practice, this means that the company name must be of equal or greater prominence compared to the charity name.

 

Applicants are advised to refer to the CAP's website prior to submitting an application.

 

As part of the application process the Licensing Authority may ask to see an example of the bags being used for the collection and, if they are deemed to be non-compliant with the guidance, the collection will not be authorised. 

Does tacit consent apply if I do not hear anything after 28 days?

Yes as long as we are not waiting for you to send us further information. This means that you will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from us by the 28th day of a full application being submitted.

Apply Online

Apply to run a charitable collection

Notify us of the result of a charitable collection

Apply by Post

House to House Licence

Extract from House to House Collections Regulations 1947

House to House financial return form - 5th schedule (collecting cash)

House to House financial return form - 6th schedule (collecting & selling goods)

House to House financial form - 7th schedule (goods given away)

Failed Application Redress

Please contact us in the first instance. You have the right to appeal to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Appeals must be lodged within 14 days of the refusal.

Licence Holder Redress

Please contact us in the first instance. You have the right to appeal to the Minister for the Cabinet Office. Appeals must be lodged within 14 days of the decision.

Consumer Complaint

If you are not satisfied with the service you should complain to the person or service who first dealt with the matter. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive at this stage you should then complain via the formal complaints procedure for your authority which is available on the authority website.

You should receive a reply within 10 days, but if the matter is complex, or other organisations need to be contacted, it may take longer. But you will be told what action is being taken. You should give all the details of your complaint and say what you have done to try to get it put right.

If you are still not happy after using this complaints procedure you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman.

Trade Associations

None