Street Collections

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

Licence Summary

To carry out street collections to collect money or sell articles for charitable purposes in a public place in England and Wales you need a licence from us. A 'public place' is a 'place where the public has access'.

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.

Application Evaluation Process

No provision in the legislation

Does tacit consent apply if I haven't heard 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 within 28 days of a full application being submitted.

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.

Face to Face Fundraisers

Please note that in addition to the above regulation since the 25th July 2016, face to face fundraisers (commonly known as 'Chuggers' ) cannot operate in Kettering town centre without prior permission from Kettering Borough Council and such fundraising is subject to a number of conditions. Details are available from the Kettering Borough Council website.

Consumer Complaint

If you are not satisfied with the service you should complain to the person who first dealt with the matter. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive at this stage you should then complain to the Head of Environmental Services giving details of your complaint.

You can take the complaint a step further by writing to the Executive Director who will arrange for it to be investigated. 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 we will still let you know 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 our own complaints procedure you can complain to the Local government Ombudsman. A free booklet is available from all council offices.

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