Clause 45
Charities Bill [Lords]
6:15 pm
Martin Horwood (Shadow Minister (Environment), Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Cheltenham, Liberal Democrat)
Amendment No. 144 would introduce a new provision in clause 45, which concerns the regulation of public charitable collections. I am aware that it is a mildly contentious clause for Committee members and many other MPs, because it touches on the practice referred to on Second Reading as chugging—charities’ ability to raise sometimes vital funds not through traditional forms of charitable appeal or by shaking tins but by making appeals for standing orders and direct debits in public without some of the restrictions applying to traditional charitable collections. The Bill rightly proposes a range of amendments to fundraising rules that will bring such fundraising under proper regulation by law and, on many occasions, by local authorities. However, there is a risk that by being too enthusiastic in our regulatory zeal, we might impose undue restrictions on charities that would damage the income that we all want to go to their beneficiaries.
Clause 45 contains one such unduly restrictive measure. As I read it, the clause restricts collections defined as public charitable collections under subsection (2). Public collections are those made
“(i) in any public place, or
(ii) by means of visits to houses or business premises (or both)”.
So far, so good, but the problem lies with the definition of “public”. A public place is defined in subsection (6)(b) as
“any other place to which, at any time when the appeal is made, members of the public have or are permitted to have access and which either—
(i) is not within a building, or
(ii) if within a building, is a public area within any station, airport or shopping precinct or any other similar public area.”
That will take us into an extraordinary situation. For instance—to quote an example that was familiar to me a few years ago—if the Alzheimer’s Society agrees with Tesco that charitable collections will take place on Tesco premises, which are Tesco’s private property, the society will have to seek the local authority’s permission and obtain a permit to do so. The conditions will apply because the collection will be in a public place as defined by the Bill.