Background and Eligibility Criteria
A Street Collection Permit provides authorisation to collect money or sell articles for charitable purposes. Please be mindful that if you wish to provide ‘regulated entertainment’ whilst undertaking your collection you may also require a Premises Licence or Temporary Event Notice under the Licensing Act 2003.
Street: The expression ‘street’ includes any highway and any public bridge, road, land, foot-way, square, court, alley, or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not.
Charitable purposes: The ordinary meaning of ‘charitable purposes’ is given in the Charities Act 1960, s40, namely ‘purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of England and Wales. It is suggested however that this section is not to be interpreted so strictly and indeed the words ‘charitable purposes’ are given a wider interpretation in s11 of the House to House Collections Act 1939, which states that ‘charitable purposes’ means any charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose whether or not the purpose is charitable within the meaning of any rule of law.
Public place: Vale of Glamorgan Council hold the opinion that a ‘public place’ is one to which the public has a right of access and not merely access as matter of fact.
It is likely that a permit would be required to stand in a shop doorway if money is collected from people as they pass down a street. Permits would not however be required for a collection held inside a shop, house, place of work or business i.e. in a public house, or the foyer of a cinema or theatre.
Please note that if you are collecting from one public house to the other you will need a House to House Collection Licence.