Street collections

To apply for a Street Collection Permit applicants must complete an application form and return it to the Licensing Team at the Council with any relevant literature.  For example if the applicant does not work for the charity a letter of authorisation from the charity addressed to the applicant agreeing the collection is required.  To apply for a Permit you can apply via www.gov.uk or if you prefer to apply by post please complete and return our Street Collection Application Form

>The application for a licence must be made no later than the first day of the month preceding that in which the collection is purposed to take place.  The Licensing Team holds a diary, and should be contacted in the first instance in order to ascertain what dates are free in the area you wish to collect in.

Tandridge District Council reserve the right to make more detailed enquiries about your application in certain circumstances. 

Tandridge District Council reserve the right to refuse any application for a Street Collection Permit and it is likely that any previous contravention of the Council’s Street Collection Regulations would result in such action being taken.

On receiving your permit it is important for you to consider the following:

• That you have retained and understood the Council’s Street Collection Regulations controlling your collection.
• That you have provided written authority for your collectors to take part in the collection.
• That your collectors are over 16 years of age.
• That you make arrangements for the return of the statement of income showing the details of monies raised to be countersigned by an accountant or other independent, responsible person.

Charities canvassing the public on the street to donate by direct debit do not need a licence from us. We do, however, encourage them not to overlap their activities with any charities that have applied/already have permission to hold street collections.

Members of the Institute of Fundraising are reminded they should follow its Code of Fundraising Practice.

Within one month of the date of the collection, the person to whom the permit was granted shall forward the following return to the Licensing Team:

• An account of the proceeds of the collection which has been certified by that person and either a qualified accountant or independent responsible person acceptable to the Council.
• List of collectors.
• A list of the amounts contained in each collecting box.

Return forms will be sent to you when your permit is issued, but if you need further forms they will be supplied on request from licensing@tandridge.gov.uk.

Failure to submit the above return is an offence and may result in enforcement action being taken by the Council.

A new Street Collection Permit will not be issued to you if we are awaiting a Statement of Return for any previous collection(s).

Please contact us at Licensing@tandridge.gov.uk should circumstances in relation to your permit change.

Yes. This means that you will be able to act as though your licence is granted if you have not heard from the local authority by the end of the target completion period.

The target completion period is 28 calendar days.

Where there are grounds which could lead to the refusal of your application this period is likely to be extended to allow for Licensing Committee to determine your application

A Street Collection Permit provides authorisation to collect money or sell articles for charitable purposes.  Please be mindful that if you wish to provide ‘regulated entertainment’ whilst undertaking your collection you may also require a Premises Licence or Temporary Event Notice under the Licensing Act 2003.

Street: The expression ‘street’ includes any highway and any public bridge, road, land, foot-way, square, court, alley, or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not.

Charitable purposes: The ordinary meaning of ‘charitable purposes’ is given in the Charities Act 1960, s40, namely ‘purposes which are exclusively charitable according to the law of England and Wales. It is suggested however that this section is not to be interpreted so strictly and indeed the words ‘charitable purposes’ are given a wider interpretation in s11 of the House to House Collections Act 1939, which states that ‘charitable purposes’ means any charitable, benevolent or philanthropic purpose whether or not the purpose is charitable within the meaning of any rule of law.

Public place: Tandridge District Council hold the opinion that a ‘public place’ is one to which the public has a right of access and not merely access as matter of fact.

It is likely that a permit would be required to stand in a shop doorway if money is collected from people as they pass down a street. Permits would not however be required for a collection held inside a shop, house, place of work or business i.e. in a public house, or the foyer of a cinema or theatre.

Please note that if you are collecting from one public house to the other you will need a House to House Collection Licence.

The conditions relating to Street Collections are held in the Tandridge District Council Street Collection Regulations.

There are no fees associated with this application process.

Permit holders are normally required to publish at their own expense, an account of the collection proceeds in a local newspaper.  Tandridge District Council has determined that this requirement is suspended as on receipt of the Statement of Return, the amounts collected will be published on the Council’s Website.

Details of street collections raising £150 or more must be published. We make that information available here:

• Street Collection Returns 2022
• Street Collection Returns 2023

As might be imagined, permits to collect in this way are in great demand and if the numbers were not controlled, there would be a danger that shoppers would resent being approached every time they visited town centres. To prevent this and yet to allow as many different organisations the chance to fundraise, the Council operates a policy of allowing one collection per area at any one time.

Where Street Collection Permits are granted in exceptional circumstances a relaxation of Regulation 3 of the Council's Street Collections Regulations shall be available, namely that applications under these circumstances need not be made one month before the date on which it is proposed to make the collection.

Sponsored walks do not need to be licensed but 'moving collections' such as carnival processions and events are not permitted as stated in the Tandridge Regulations. 10(a) a collector shall remain stationary. 

Any persons who act in contravention of the Council’s Street Collection Regulations shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding Level 1 on the standard scale in the case of a first or subsequent offence.

Failed Application Redress: Contact the Local Authority in the first instance. There is no statutory right of appeal against refusal of a permit; however the High Court may review the decision.

Licence Holder Redress: Contact the Local Authority in the first instance.

Consumer Complaint: View our consumer complaints procedure.

• Street Collection Regulations