§ 31. Sir John Graham Kerrasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in view of the important assistance given by schoolchildren on Saturday forenoons in collecting money for Red Cross and other deserving objects, why instructions have been given to chief constables to prohibit such assistance by persons under 16 years of age.
§ The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mr. Ede)The responsibility for regulating street collections has been placed by Parliament on the police authorities, but the model regulations first issued by the Home Office in 1916 contain a provision that persons acting as street collectors or vendors shall not be under the age of 16, and many authorities have adopted such a provision. The excellence of the object of a particular collection, is not, I think, a reason for abandoning a restriction which in general has been found beneficial for the protection of children.
§ Mr. Hector HughesDoes not the right hon. Gentleman think that this kind of mendicancy should be discouraged, especially in the case of children?
§ Mr. EdeMy attention was drawn recently to the case of two children of about 14 years of age being prosecuted for stealing the results of the collection they made. I communicated with the authority, which had no regulation proscribing such action, and I am glad to say that they have agreed to prohibit future collectings by young children.