Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Public charitable collections definition

What does Public charitable collections mean? Public charitable collections describes fundraising that seeks donations from members of the public in public places or by visiting houses or business premises. In practice this covers street collections and house‑to‑house (or business‑to‑business) collections, whether cash, contactless or through the sale of items for charitable purposes. Regulatory regimes apply across the UK and Ireland. In England and Wales, street collections are regulated under the Police, Factories etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 and local regulations, and house‑to‑house collections under the House to House Collections Act 1939 (licences or exemptions). In Scotland, “public charitable collection” is defined and licensed under the Civic Government...

Charitable public collections in England and Wales: regulatory framework, licensing, exemptions and enforcement for street and house-to-house fundraising

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Practice notes

Although wide-ranging reforms were proposed in the Charities Act 1993 and, later, the Charities Act 2006, neither set of provisions has been commenced, nor are they expected to be in the near term. As a result, rules on public charitable collections—meaning raising funds from the public for charitable or similar aims—remain rooted in statutes from 1916 and 1939. The Charities Act 2022, implemented in phases from Spring 2023, leaves the regime for charitable public collections untouched.

current legislative framework

Section 5 (as amended) of the Police, Factories, etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916 (PFE(MP)A 1916), together with the Street Collections (Metropolitan Police District) Regulations 1979 (SI 1979/1230) and any regulations made under that provision, governs collections carried out in the street (which includes a shop doorway or shopping precinct). This framework overrides street trading rules, even where funds are raised by selling goods, provided there is an indication that all or part of the proceeds will be applied for charitable purposes...

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Francesca Quint

Radcliffe Chambers

Professional backgroundFrancesca Quint is best known as a specialist in charity law, an area in which she has been working for the whole of her career to date. Her interest in charity law dates from the time when she was reading law as an undergraduate at King's College, London.Professional expertiseCharity law naturally overlaps with distinct areas of law in which Francesca also practises which impinge on the activities of charities. These include education, housing, ecclesiastical law and aspects of public law. It also extends to those areas which affect people who wish to support charities, such as wills, trusts and tax, in which Francesca is often asked to advise regardless of any specific charity involvement.A good deal of Francesca's work is non-contentious but she often finds herself advising charities in trouble, whether financial, constitutional or regulatory, or acting for one side or another in...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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