§ Mr. A. T. DAVIESasked the Home Secretary who is responsible for the flag days permitted in the streets of the Metropolis; whether that authority receives information of the receipts and expenses accruing to the object for which flag days are held; and whether, in the interests of the really valuable charities served by flag days, it is proposed to adopt a more stringent censorship on the expenses charged for carrying through such events?
Mr. HENDERSONPermits for street collections in the Metropolitan Police district are granted by the Commissioner of Police, who is assisted by an advisory committee, and information as to receipts and expenses is not only received, but is also closely scrutinised. It is the invariable practice, before a permit is granted, to take into consideration both an estimate of expenditure and the expenses of any previous collection held by the applicant, and permits are refused if, after due warning, applicants have failed464W to keep their expenses down to a reasonable proportion of the total amount collected. It would be extremely difficult, even if the Commissioner had the power, to discriminate between applications according to the deserts of the benefiting charities, and a stricter censorship of accounts would not have the desired result, as the most valuable charities are not always the best served by the persons who undertake to collect for them. The question, however, of restricting, by some means or other, the number of collections, especially those carried out with processions and carnivals, is engaging the attention of the advisory committee.