Street Collection Permits and House to House Collection Licences in North Dorset

North Dorset Policy for charitable collections

Street Collection Permits - one permit to be granted for each town on any one day and no more than one day in each town per month for each charity. Unless previously exempted from the policy by the committee and except in exceptional circumstances such as national or international disasters, National arranged collections where flag days run over more than one day, and local festivities that involve whole towns or villages.

Expenses - expenses to be taken from donations to be limited to a maximum of 25%.

Street Collections

A Street Collection Permit is required by anyone wishing to collect money in the street for charitable or philanthropic purposes under the Police, Factories, &c. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1916 (opens in a new window) .

Permits will be issued subject to model regulations (pdf, 62kb) (opens in a new window) contained within Schedule to the Charitable Collections (Transitional Provisions) Order 1974 (SI 1974 No 140) which include the regulation that no person under the age of 16 can act as a collector.

Applications must be received 28 days before the collection and should be made on the appropriate application form (pdf, 66kb) (opens in a new window) . This can be emailed or posted to the licensing team there is no fee for a permit.  A return form (pdf, 36kb) (opens in a new window) will have to be submitted, within one calendar month of the collection, showing how much was raised and how the money collected was distributed.

Tacit consent will apply provided that the application was received 28 days prior to the date of the proposed collection and that any collection is conducted in line with any regulations that would attach to the permit.

House to House Collections

Charitable or fund raising collections that go from house to house, or business to business, need a House to House Collection licence issued under the House to House Collections Act 1939 (opens in a new window) and the regulations (pdf, 13kb) (opens in a new window) . This includes any collection for cash or a collection of goods.

Applications must be made before the first day of the month before the month that the collection is held in and must contain certain information (pdf, 32kb) (opens in a new window) . There is no fee payable for a licence. No person under 16 can collect any money or goods under a House to House Collection Licence. The Council may refuse the licence application for set reasons (pdf, 42kb) (opens in a new window) .

To apply for a House to House Collection Licence fill in the  application form (pdf, 170kb) (opens in a new window) and email or post it to the licensing team.  Once you have a licence you will require a Badge and Certificate of Authenticity from the Home Office to allow you to collect. To obtain these you will need to contact: The Stationery Office Ltd, PO Box 29, Norwich, NR3 1GN or on 0870 242 2345 and order a "combined badge and certificate of authenticity for house to house collectors" (ISBN0113407424) at a cost of 35p.

A  return form (pdf, 36kb) (opens in a new window) must be completed within one month of the collection to verify the amounts raised and to show how the funds raised were distributed.

An application will be dealt with within 28 days of being received. Tacit consent will apply provided that an application was received before the first day of the month before the month that the collection is held.

• Name: Licensing (North Dorset)
  Email: licensing@north-dorset.gov.uk
  Tel: 01258 484022/141
  Fax: 01258 484298
  Full details for Licensing (North Dorset)