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Licensing regimes

Accuracy - Licensing laws are complex and change from time to time.  So some items listed below may be inaccurate (we're not lawyers) or become out of date.  Don't treat the list as authoritative.

Notes

To understand the issues concerning the licensing of charitable house-to-house collections (and enforcement), we found it useful to look also at other licensing regimes.  Although the activities controlled by other regimes can be very different (eg pet shops, casinos) there are strong parallels between them.  Problems and solutions in one regime are often relevant to other regimes.  Accordingly we give below an annotated rough-and-ready list of some of these licensing regimes.

The list below only gives a small selection of licensing regimes.

Type of applicant (individual or organisation)

Most licensing regimes involve licensing of organisations (eg businesses) - not individuals.

Government and non-government

The focus of this list is licensing regimes operated by government.

In general, we've excluded licensing regimes operated by non-government organisations - eg private/commercial law arrangements.  A good example is intellectual property (copyright, trademarks, registered designs and patents).  Typical features of these non-government regimes :

• They involve civil law and don't have any criminal penalties for non-compliance - in other words you can be sued but not prosecuted.
• They involve legal action between two (or more) private parties, without government being involved.

Different terms used

The term "licensing" is used here to indicate the need for permits, consents, certificates, registration etc, as well as "licences".  The names used are different, but the principles are usually the same.

The "licensor" is the organisation granting the licence.
The "licensee" is the organisation (or person) wanting the licence.

Spelling - in British English:

• "Licensing", "licensed" etc have an "s" in the word.
• However, the paperwork issued is spelt "licence" - with a "c" at the end of it.
  (In the US, they spell it "license".)

Registers

In most cases the licensing body is required to keep a list of licences.  Often this is called a register.  In many cases the list is available for public inspection, especially if it relates to organisations (rather than individuals).  A typical register lists a reference number, the applicant's name and address, date of application, details of application, date of decision, decision, conditions imposed (if any) and reference number.
See also the page on registers of charitable collection licences.

Publicity

Some licensing regimes require the applicant to publicise their application (so that people can comment on it before the decision is made) - hence the proliferation of small notices regarding applications which can be found in local newspapers.

Display

Some licensing regimes require the holder of the licence to display it or mention it - eg :

• Liquor and game - required to display a notice at the entrance stating they have a licence, and the name of the licensee(s)
• Registered companies - required to display a plaque at their registered address
• Taxis - required to display a plate on their vehicle giving the taxi licence number.

Types of licence

• Vetted licences - In other words, licences designed to vet the applicant and/or control the activities (eg house-to-house collections or driving licences).  With this type of licence, some applicants (or proposals) will not be considered suitable and a licence is refused.
• Revenue licences - These are designed just to raise money (eg TV licences).  This type of licence has little relevance to the issues on our website.

Charges / fees

£

• Vetted licences
  • Free:  Some types are dealt with free-of-charge (eg charitable house-to-house collections).
  • Charged:  Others incur a charge - to cover part or all of the administration costs (eg fees for planning applications).
• Revenue licences - The costs of these (by definition) exceed the administration costs, so that there's a net profit - which forms the net revenue - eg TV licences.

Duration of licence

• Most are for a limited period (eg one year), at the end of which renewal is needed.
• Some are permanent - eg most planning permissions, driving licences (until you reach a certain age).

Revocation

Many types of licence allow the licensing authority to terminate the licence unilaterally (=revocation) - eg if the licensee acts improperly.

List of some licensing regimes (A-Z) - table

Key

The column below headed "I" means Individual.
An "I" (upper case) in the column indicates the licensing applies only to individuals - rather than an organisation (eg business).  Example: marriage
An "i" (lower case) in the column indicates the licensing applies to individuals as well as organisations (eg businesses).

"LA" indicates local authority.
"LAL" indicates local authority licensing department.

Category (A-Z)	I	Licensing agency / comments
Broadcasting (radio, TV)
Broadcasting (amateur radio)	i
Caravan sites		LA
Charities		Charity Commission (registration) Charities Acts
Charitable collections - house-to-house		LAL (the police if it's in London) or Cabinet Office (NEOs).  Licence
Charitable collections - street		LAL (the police if it's in London).  Permit
Companies		Companies House (Cardiff) (registration) Companies Acts
Credit		Licence from Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
Credit - Pawnbrokers		Licence from Office of Fair Trading (OFT)
Development - Building Control	i	LA. Application of the 'Building Regulations'. Eg structure, drains, insulation
Development - Planning	i	LA, DCLG, Planning Inspectorate. "Consents". Town and Country Planning Acts
Dog	i	Discontinued in 1980s
Driving	i	DVLA (Swansea)
Employment agencies
Fishing (inland)	i	Water companies, British Waterways (canals), etc
Gambling - Betting offices
Gambling - Bingo clubs		Certificate from Gaming Board & annual licence from magistrates
Gambling - Casinos		Certificate from Gaming Board & annual licence from magistrates
Gambling - Gaming machines - small prize		LA or licensing justice - permit
Gambling - Lotteries and raffles		Gaming Board or LA
Game (selling of)		Pheasants etc
Goods vehicle operator's licence		Traffic Commissioner's Office
Guns - firearms	i	Police.  Eg handguns, rifles. Certificate
Guns - shotguns	i	Police.  Eg farmers
Information handling (especially personal records)		Registration with the Information Commissioner =ICO (Data Protection Acts)
Liquor (selling of) = wines & spirits		England & Wales: Was magistrates; LAL from 24 Nov 2005 (Licensing Act 2003)
Marriage	I	LA - Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages Certificate
Medical - various
Minicabs		+see taxis
Peddlers
Pet shops		LAL
Pharmacists (chemists' shops)		Royal Pharmaceutical Society of GB
Radio receiver	i	Discontinued around 1980
Sex shops
Taxis		LAL. +see minicabs
Television (owner of)	i	TV Licensing Authority =TVLA (Bristol)
Vehicles - registration	i	DVLA (Swansea)
Vehicles - tax disc	i	DVLA (Swansea)
Vehicles - MoT tests	i	Garages (certificate)
Waste disposal (commercial)		Environment Agency (EA)
Waste skips (placed on the public highway)	i
Wheel clampers (clamping on private land)		SIA
Zoos and wildlife parks		LAL

Three types of government licensing agencies

As you can see from the list (table) above, there are three types of government licensing organisations or departments :

1.  'Specialist' government agencies which deal with all aspects of an activity - including licensing.  Examples:

• The Cabinet Office - including 'national Exemption Orders' (NEOs) for charitable collections
• The Charity Commission - responsible for charities, including the registration ('licensing') of charities
• Companies House - including the registration of companies
• The Environment Agency
• The OFT
• Planning departments of local councils - including planning permissions (a form of licence)
• The police - including licensing of firearms

2.  Specialist government agencies which just deal with the licensing aspect of one activity.  These are uncommon.  Examples:

• DVLA in Swansea (drivers and vehicles)
• TVLA in Bristol (TV licences)

LDs

3.  Local council licensing departments (LDs).
About 300 councils in England and Wales have these departments.  They're the district councils and unitary councils.  These licensing departments are unique - they just do licensing - but they license an extraordinarily wide range of miscellaneous activities (around 60 in all).  See the section on the Institute of Licensing below for a list of some of these activities.  These activities include Charitable house-to-house collections (and charitable street collections).

As far as we know, ALL the 60 or so licensing regimes dealt with by council licensing departments relate to organisations (eg businesses) - not to individuals.  This helps explain why so few people know about council licensing departments, and (in particular) licensing of charitable house-to-house collections (under the 1939 Act).

The Institute of Licensing (IoL)

Established in 2003, this is the professional body for local government licensing officers (in other words, staff working in the licensing departments of local councils).  It's a registered charity.  The Institute's website   has a wealth of information on licensing, including house-to-house collections and street collections.

List of licensing regimes on the website of the Institute of Licensing

There's a useful popup A-Z list of licensing regimes on the website of the Institute of Licensing  .  Below is a copy of their list as at November 2008 (our thanks to the Institute).  There are 54 items - comprising an extraordinarily broad range of human activities.

In general the list only covers the licensing regimes which are dealt with by local council licensing departments.  So it excludes (a) local council town planning, waste disposal etc, and (b) non-council regimes.

We've highlighted charitable house-to-house collections and street collections below.
Also, we've colour-coded items as follows :

• Animals/animal-related
• Gambling
• Health, body

Acupuncture
Adult Gaming Centres
Alcohol
Amusements with Prizes
Animal Boarding Establishments
Betting Shops
Betting Tracks
Camping Sites
Casinos
Canal Boats
Caravan Sites
Charities for Disabled Persons and War Charities
Cinemas
Consumer Credit Licences
Common Lodging Houses
Dangerous Wild Animals
Dog Breeding
Door Supervisors
Ear-piercing
Electrolysis
Explosives
Family Entertainment Centres
Filling Materials
Food Premises
Hackney Carriages
House to House Collections  [charitable]
Houses in Multiple Occupation
Late Night Refreshment Premises
Lotteries
Marriage Premises
Milk Distributors, Dairies and Dairymen
Motor Salvage Operators
Nurseries and Child Minders
Performing Animals
Pet Shops
Petroleum
Pleasure Boats
Poisons
Pool Promoters
Private Hire Vehicles
Private Members' Clubs
Regulated entertainment venues
Residential Homes
Riding Establishments
Scrap Metal Dealers
Sex Establishments
Slaughterhouses, Knackers' Yards and Cutting Premises
Sports Grounds
Street Collections  [charitable]
Street Trading
Tattooing
Theatres
Vehicle Registration Plate Suppliers
Zoos