EXTRACTS FROM

THE HOUSE-TO-HOUSE COLLECTIONS REGULATIONS 1947

Responsibility of promoters as respects collectors

5. Every promoter of a collection shall exercise all due diligence -

(a) to secure that person authorised to act as collectors for the purposes of the collection are fit and proper persons: and

(b) to secure compliance on the part of persons so authorised with the provisions of these regulations.

Certificates of authority, badges, collecting boxes and receipt boxes

6. (1) No promoter of a collection shall permit any person to act as a collector, unless he has issued or caused to be issued to that person -

(a) * a prescribed certificate of authority duly completed (except as regards the signature of the collector) and signed by or on behalf of the chief promoter of the collection;

(b) * a prescribed badge, having inserted therein or annexed thereto a general indication of the purpose of the collection; and

(c) if money is to be collected, a collecting box or receipt book marked with a clear indication of the purpose of the collection and a distinguishing number, which indication and number shall, in the case of a receipt book, also be marked on every receipt contained therein in addition to the consecutive number of the receipt.

(Note: *The form of the prescribed certificate and badge is set out in the Appendix attached hereto.)

(2) Every promoter of a collection shall exercise all due diligence to secure -

(a) that no prescribed certificate of authority, prescribed badge, collection box or receipt book is issued, unless the name and address of the collector to whom it is issued have been entered on a list showing in respect of any collecting box or receipt book the distinguishing number thereof; and

(b) that every prescribed certificate of authority, prescribed badge, collecting box or receipt book issued by him or on his behalf is returned when the collection is completed or when for any other reason a collector ceases to act as such.

(3) In case of a collection in respect of which a licence has been granted -

(a) every prescribed certificate of authority shall be given on a form obtained from Her Majesty's Stationery Office, and every prescribed badge shall be so obtained; and

(b) every prescribed certificate of authority shall be authenticated, and the general indication on every prescribed badge of the purpose of the collection shall be inserted therein or annexed thereto, in a manner approved by the chief officer of police for area in respect of which the licence was granted.

Duties of collectors in relation to certificates and badges

7. Every collector shall -

(a) sign his name on the prescribed certificate of authority issued to him and produce it on demand of any police constable or of any occupant of a house visited by him for the purpose of collection;

(b) sign his name on the prescribed badge issued to him and wear the badge prominently whenever he is engaged in collecting; and

(c) keep such certificate and badge in his possession and return them to a promoter of the collection on replacement thereof or when the collection is completed or at any other time on the demand of a promoter of the collection.

Age Limits

8. No person ... under the age of sixteen years shall act or be authorised to act as a collector of money.

Importuning

9. No collector shall importune any person to the annoyance of such person, or remain in, or at the door of, any house if requested to leave by any occupant thereof.

Collecting of Money

10. (1) Where a collector is collecting money by means of a collecting box, he shall not receive any contribution save by permitting the person from whom it is received to place it in a collecting box issued to him by a promoter of the collection.

(2) Where a collector is collecting money by other means than a collecting box, he shall, upon receiving a contribution from any person forthwith and in the presence of such a person enter on a form of receipt in a receipt book issued to him by a promoter of the collection and on the corresponding counterfoil of duplicate the date, the name of the contributor and the amount contributed, and shall sign the form of receipt, the entries and signature being in ink or indelible pencil, and shall hand the form of receipt to the persons from whom he received the contribution.

Duty of collectors to return boxes and books

11. Every collector, to whom a collecting box or receipt book has been issued shall -

(a) when the collecting box is full or the receipt book is exhausted, or

(b) upon the demand of a promoter of the collection, or

(c) when he does not desire to act as a collector, or

(d) upon the completion of the collection,

return to a promoter of the collection that collecting box with the seal unbroken or that receipt book with a sum equal to the total amount of the contributions (if any) entered therein.

Examination of boxes and books

12. (1) Subject as provided in paragraph (2) of this regulation, a collecting box when returned shall be examined by, and, if it contains money, be opened in the presence of, a promoter of the collection and another responsible person.

(2) Where a collecting box is delivered to a bank unopened, it may be examined and opened by an official of the bank in the absence of a promoter of the collection.

(3) As soon as a collecting box has been opened, the contents shall be counted and the amount shall be entered with the distinguishing number of the collecting box on a list, which shall be certified by the persons making the examination.

(4) Every receipt book when returned and all sums received therewith shall be examined by a promoter of the collection and another responsible person, and the amount of the contributions entered in the receipt book shall be checked with the money and entered with the distinguishing number of the receipt book on a list, which shall be certified by the persons making the examination.

Disposal of disused certificates of authority, etc

17. The chief promoter of a collection shall exercise all due diligence to secure that all forms of prescribed certificates of authority and prescribed badges obtained by him for the purposes of the collection are destroyed when no longer required in connection with that collection or in connection with a further collection which he has been authorised to promote for the same purpose.

Appendix

FORM OF PRESCRIBED CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY

HOUSE-TO-HOUSE COLLECTIONS ACT COLLECTOR'S CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORITY (Here insert name of collector in block letters) of (here insert address of collector) is hereby authorised to collect for (here insert the purpose of the collection) in (here insert the area within which the collector is authorised to collect, being an area within which the collection has been authorised) *during the period (here insert the period during which the collector is authorised to collect, being a period during which the collection has been authorised)

Signature of collector -

Signed -

* This entry may be omitted in the case of a collection in respect of which as order has been made.

Regulation 7 is to be set forth on the back of the certificate.

FORM OF PRESCRIBED BADGE

Front Back

HOUSE TO HOUSE COLLECTIONS ACT
	Collector's Signature -
AUTHORISED COLLECTOR'S BADGE

(Note: Supplies of the above prescribed certificate and badge may be obtained from Stationary Office Publications Centre, PO Box 276, London SW8 5DT