§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the criteria for a successful application to the Metropolitan police for permission to hold a street collection; and why applications to hold collections on behalf of coal miners and their families have been refused.
§ Mr. MellorStreet collections in the Metropolitan police district are controlled by the Street Collections (Metropolitan Police District) Regulations 1979 made under section 5 of the Police, Factories etc. (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916. These regulations provide that before any collection can be made, a permit must be obtained from the Commissioner of Police. All applications for permits are referred to an independent advisory committee appointed to advise the Commissioner on these matters. I understand that five applications to hold collections on behalf of coal miners and their families have been refused on one or more of the following grounds:
- 1. They have not been sponsored by the mayor (in accordance with a recommendation from the advisory committee that an application should be sponsored by the mayor of the borough);
- 2. The dates sought were outside the periods allocated by the advisory committee for local appeals;
- 3. Major charities had been authorised to collect on the date(s) concerned.