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Charitable collections:
Registers of licences

Headings on this page :

Related pages:  You're looking at one of the following closely-related pages :

• The law on house-to-house collections
• Licensing - applications
• Licensing - registers  =this page
• Licensing - monitoring and enforcement

Please see the other pages to get the full picture.
 

Scope:  On these pages, we're only dealing with :

• house-to-house collections (not street collections)
• charitable collections (not commercial collections)
• collections in England and Wales

1. Registers in general

As you can see from the Appendix at the bottom of the page, there are 'registers' in many different fields.

Registers are to be found in all three sectors - government, the private sector and the not-for-profit sector.

Essentially, a register is a list which gives a summary of key information about the entries (people, organisations, places, objects, events etc).

One dictionary describes it thus :

Register :
An official written record of names or events or transactions.
A book in which names and transactions are listed.
A record of assets.

Some registers are still paper-based.  But most are computerised nowadays.  Whether computerised or not, typically they're 'structured' - with records (=entries) and fields (=columns - eg name, date, location).  Basically they're databases.

On this page we focus on the local council registers of applications for charitable collection licences.

2. Registers - local council registers of applications for charitable collection licences

Introduction

A 'register' of applications just means a list, table or database summarising each application.

The 1939 Act and Regulations don't specify that councils must keep a register (list) of these licence applications - in other words it's optional (in theory).  However, if a council didn't keep a register, it would be difficult (or impossible) for them to operate their licensing system effectively - and it's likely that it would be seen as maladministration.

So, in practice, almost all councils do keep a register.  These days, it's normally held on computer - in the form of a simple searchable database.

Data standardisation

The software used by councils for their registers no doubt includes:  Microsoft Word, Access, Filemaker Pro, Excel and proprietary systems.

The data recorded about each licence seems to vary from council to council.  Some registers are basic, others are more sophisticated.

As far as we know, (alas) no attempts have been made to standardise the data structure or coding (EDI etc).  Standardisation would make the sharing of the data vastly easier and cheaper - if sharing were to be attempted.  

Contrast this with (for example) local councils' library cataloguing data - with its host of agreed standards such as AACR2  , MARC, PRECIS and ISBN/ISSN.

Example of an entry in a collection register

We assume each licence entry in a typical register contains information such as the following :

Public access to the registers - problems

Whenever we ask a council licensing department whether a particular collector/charity has a licence, they've always been happy to look up their register and tell us the answer.  So you'd think they'd treat the registers as public.  However, when we've asked to look at the register ourselves (or have a copy of it), some councils have been reluctant or said 'no'.  Our understanding is that this approach is incorrect - the registers are public information.

FoI

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, any government information is public - unless there's a good reason for withholding it.  The FoI Act lists these circumstances (exemptions) - eg national security and commercial confidentiality.  We've started contacting Freedom of Information officers in local councils.  The ones we've contacted so far have agreed that none of the exemptions apply - so the registers are public.

3. Collection registers - problems with the present system - and suggested solutions

Problems

On this page we've focused on local council registers of applications for collection licences.

We've found they're a much-neglected/under-used source of information on collections.

The main problem is that the registers are not readily accessible.  If they were made more accessible :

• It would allow much more effective control of collections - especially misleading or bogus clothing collections (including enforcement and prosecution).  This in turn would result in extra money being raised by genuine charities - because fewer illegal collections would be taking place.
• It would also improve the decision-making process concerning applications for collection licences -  councils would be able to share information more easily.  Decisions would be more consistent and fairer.

Registers in several other licensing regimes are far more accessible - see the Appendix below.

Suggested solutions

1. Improve accessibility of the collection registers

We feel that councils need to make their registers more accessible.  This would help everyone, including :

• licensing departments of other councils, trading standards, the police and the Charity Commission
• charities
• the public

2. Put the councils' registers on websites

So far, we don't know of any council that's put their collection register on the Internet.  Please contact us if find one.

There are a few promising signs.  For example (at October 2009) Warwick District Council   website includes lists of house-to-house collections for 2008 and 2009 (as Acrobat PDFs).  However, they're rudimentary - with just date, name of collector and whether exempt or not.  It doesn't say whether the collections are for cash or clothes.  And when the collector is a company it doesn't say which charity they're collecting on behalf of!  But it's better than nothing.

We've seen a few enterprising council websites that list (1) current licence applications or (2) forthcoming collections that have been licensed - eg covering the next 12 months or so.  Examples :

• Tandridge District Council   in Surrey.  Their collections list (headed 'Applications received') is on the following page: Tandridge . . . house_to_house_collections   (as at October 2009).
• Aberdeen City Council   (Scotland) - Their website lists the collections for the next month (as a PDF).

We urge councils to put their collection registers on their websites.  After all, many councils have already put licensing information on their websites in respect of alcohol and entertainment (under the Licensing Act 2003).

In essence, none of the information in the collection registers is 'personal information' as defined in the Data Protection Acts.  Also we understand it's not subject to copyright.

3. Work towards standardising the registers

See the section on this above.

4. Set up a central (national) register of applications for collection licences

As well as improving the accessibility to the registers held by each council, there's also an urgent need for a national register.  Then you'd only need to do one search.  This would substantially increase the effectiveness of licensing and (especially) enforcement relating to house-to-house collections.

A number of other licensing/enforcement regimes already have national registers (details in the Appendix below).  

Some of them are particularly relevant to clothing collections - because they consist of data compiled by local councils (which is then copied electronically to a national register).  An example is the 'national [town] planning application register' - see Appendix below (the Planning Portal).

Cost effectiveness of a national register:  Our calculations show that the increased revenue raised by charities because of having a national register would be approximately 25 times the cost of running the register.

In other words, for every £1 spent on the register, £25 extra would be raised by genuine charities.  Contact us if you want to know how we calculated this figure.

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4. APPENDIX
Registers relating to other licensing and enforcement regimes

When we've looked at how registers are handled in other licensing regimes, we've spotted useful, innovative ideas which could be applied to clothing collections.  So we've included information below on several regimes.

a) Public registers

House-to-house collections - List (register) of national Exemption Orders (NEOs)

See the page on the House to House Collections Act 1939 for the background.  There are currently around 43 charities with national Exemption Orders.

• Pre-2006:  National Exemption Orders were granted by the Home Office.
• Post-2006:  The Office of the Third Sector (OTS) has been responsible for the Exemption Orders.  (The OTS is part of the Cabinet Office.)

In both cases, the department concerned has kept an official list of the charities with Exemption Orders.  Basically, the list is a register.

The list is small but crucial.  It's essential to know who's on this list if you want to find out whether a collection is illegal - because it's only illegal if :

• it doesn't have a local council licence, AND
• it doesn't have a national Exemption Order.

FoI and the Exemption list (register):  In 2003, we contacted the Home Office to obtain a copy of this list of Exemption Orders.  We were told (courteously) that we couldn't have a copy - it was 'confidential'.  We found this extraordinary.  We queried this with the department's Freedom of Information section - and we immediately received a copy of the list and were told that it was a public document.  Sadly, the Home Office declined to put a copy of the list on their website - so we put a copy on the CharityBags website (with their agreement).

As soon as the Office of the Third Sector took over responsibility for the list (in 2006), they put a copy on their website.  The list is kept up-to-date.

Registers under the Licensing Act 2003

This recent Act deals with alcohol and entertainment licensing.  Normally, this licensing is dealt with by the same local council licensing departments that handle house-to-house collections - so this makes it a good comparison.

At a national/policy level, the Act is the responsibility of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)  

There are helpful 'Explanatory Notes' accompanying the Act - see :

www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2003/en/ukpgaen_20030017_en_1  

Extracts from these Notes - relating to registers :

"16. The Act provides for the setting of fees in relation to applications, notifications, licences and certificates. The fees will be set centrally and are intended to be set on the basis of full cost recovery.

The Act requires each licensing authority to establish a register relating to the grant of licences and certificates and the giving of temporary event notices and associated matters.

The Act includes a power for the Secretary of State to provide for the establishment of a central database to maintain matters a licensing authority is obliged to register.

. . .

Section 8 - Requirement to keep a register

45. Subsection (1) provides that each licensing authority must maintain a register which records details of the authorisations it issues, the temporary event notices it receives, other notices and applications to it as set out in Schedule 3, and any other information which the Secretary of State prescribes. 

Under subsection (2) the Secretary of State is given the power to make regulations as to how that register must be maintained.

Subsections (3) to (5) provide that the information contained in the register must be made available for inspection by the public during office hours, free of charge, and that a copy of that information must be supplied on request (for a fee).

Subsections (6) and (7) make provision for the Secretary of State to arrange, through administrative action, for the establishment of one or more central registers, in which case the licensing authorities may be required to pay for the cost of such arrangements."

 

[Crown Copyright HMSO]

[bold (and some carriage returns) added by CharityBags for clarity]

You'll notice above that the Act requires councils to keep a register and to make it accessible to the public.  Also it refers to the establishment of one or more central registers - which would combine local information into a national database.

A number of council websites include a copy of their register - so you can see who's received a licence.

The central register of charities maintained by the Charity Commission

This national register contains details of around 180,000 charities in England and Wales.  It's available on the Charity Commission's website   Anyone can use the database - it's free, searchable, printable and sophisticated.  It includes financial details, and personal details of trustees.

Registers under town planning legislation

Under the Town and Country Planning Acts (TCPAs), each local planning authority (LPA) keeps a statutory register of all planning applications.  The public are entitled to inspect these registers and are allowed to make notes of the contents.  Nowadays many councils have put a copy of their planning registers on their websites.  Many council websites also include scanned copies of the documentation submitted by each applicant (forms, drawings etc).  For example see the government's Planning Portal website: www.planningportal.gov.uk  .

The Planning Portal site includes an online 'national planning application register' (searchable), giving details of all applications made in the last 12 months.  It includes a drop-down selection list of councils, A-Z.

ASA

Adjudications by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

Details of the ASA's adjudications concerning complaints are provided on their website, fully searchable.  See :

• our page listing clothing collectors (A-Z) - including ASA adjudications
• Regulators - the ASA

The Land Registry

This organisation is a non-ministerial department of central government.  It's now an executive agency.

Website:  www.landregistry.gov.uk     Extract from the their website :

"The main statutory function of Land Registry is to keep a register of title to freehold and leasehold land throughout England and Wales. On behalf of the Crown, it guarantees title to registered estates and interests in land. State-backed registration gives greater security of title, providing protection against claims of adverse possession."

b) Confidential registers

The Police National Computer (PNC)

This went live in 1974 and now has 100 million records.  It's a national database, available 24/7 to all police forces and related agencies.  See the page on PNC in Wikipedia   for more information.

The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB)

Established in March 2002, the CRB is an executive agency of the Home Office (central government).  It's run by civil servants.

"The CRB . . . was set-up to help organisations make safer recruitment decisions.  . . .

The CRB acts as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for organisations, checking police records and, in relevant cases, information held by the Department of Health (DH) and the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)."

Website:  www.crb.gov.uk  

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