Give us the powers to tackle "chuggers", say local authorities

Councils should be given updated powers to tackle so-called “chuggers” who are deterring the public from using their local high streets, the Local Government Association has claimed.

Also known as "charity muggers", chuggers are street fundraisers who typically act as agency workers for major charities.

The LGA’s call for action came after a survey it conducted of local authorities found that more than two-thirds (68%) had received complaints about street fundraisers from the public, businesses and other groups in the voluntary sector.

The survey also found that:

• 72% of the 151 authorities that took part in the survey considered chugging to be a problem in their area, “to at least a small extent”;
• 54% said street fundraisers were putting potential shoppers off visiting their local high street;
• Of those councils to have received complaints, 81% had received them from residents. Half (54%) had received complaints from local businesss, while one in five had received them from the voluntary and community sector;
• 24% of local authorities said the fundraisers were out every day. A further 43% said they were collecting on a weekly basis.

The Association argued that the Charities Act was “outdated” and “in a mess” because it gave councils few powers to deal with the issue.

The LGA said several councils had been working with charities on voluntary codes of conduct, and that the majority of these arrangements had proved successful. Fewer than one in five (17%) said they had not.

However, it insisted that the powers available to local authorities should be updated, for example by allowing them to place restrictions on when and where such fundraisers can collect, and on how many can operate in one street.

The Association also claimed that updating the legislation would “create a level playing field between agency workers soliciting bank details for big charities and volunteers collecting coins on behalf of other good causes”.

Cllr Nilgun Canver, the LGA's Licensing Champion, said: "Councils need more powers to make town and city centres attractive to shoppers and this should include the authority to intervene when chuggers congregate in large numbers or intimidate people with unprofessional behaviour.

"The current legislation is out of date and in a mess. Government needs to remove the double standard which currently means volunteers collecting coins for a local hospice need a licence, but agency workers seeking pledges for national charities do not. This will not only protect shoppers from being pestered by intrusive fundraisers, but also allow councils to support smaller local charities by allocating certain areas and times for collections to ensure they do not get crowded out by chuggers.”

The Professional Fundraisers’ Regulatory Association (PFRA) meanwhile called last week for the repeal of the Police, Factories etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916, which empowers councils to license charity collections for cash but not Direct Debits.

In its submission to the review of the Charities Act 2006 being led by Lord Hodgson, the PFRA called for the unified licensing regime contained in the uncommenced parts of the 2006 to be implemented.

It claimed that councils should then be encouraged to work with the PFRA to co-regulate street fundraising in their areas.

The PFRA’s head of policy, Dr Toby Ganley, said: “The 1916 act is simply no longer fit for purpose. It was conceived in a different era to deal with different problems and issues and its provisions no longer make sense when applied to collections of committed gifts and electronic transfers of donations.”

According to the PFRA, the original purpose of the 1916 Act was to allow the police to combat collections by bogus charities claiming to support veterans and injured soldiers.

Dr Ganley said: “We are recommending that councils are given the power to license both cash and Direct Debit fundraising, but be required to strike a balance between charities’ duties to fundraise and the rights of the public not to be put under undue pressure to give. That’s why we are recommending that the government encourage councils to work with the PFRA to extend the system of co-regulation that we have been developing over the past 10 years.”

The PFRA also argued in its submission that doorstep fundraising should be brought into the unified licensing regime.

“The uncommenced parts of the Charities Act 2006 would have removed the need for a licence to collect on the doorstep, effectively deregulating this activity,” it said.

Lord Hodgson is expected to publish his report this summer.