CHARITYFACTS WEBSITE

Early day motion 740, tabled 12 October 2005 by Rudi Vis (Labour). Signed by 18 members.

That this House urges caution on the part of all those in local authorities, town centre managements and retail groups with authority to allow direct debit collections for charity when reading a website under the heading `charityfacts'; notes that that website commends the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA) as a `voluntary self-regulatory body', which is an inappropriate description because, in spite of its name, PFRA does not operate any serious regulatory standards on the way its members run such collections; further notes that a very uninformative solicitation statement to prospective donors such as `I am paid on a fee-per-donor basis' would satisfy the extremely mild PFRA guidelines; recalls that that precise wording for a solicitation statement was specifically disapproved of in recommendations on good practice given in a statement issued by the Home Office in November 2003 on the declaration of fundraisers' expenses in collections; and hopes that public bodies will avoid publicising `charityfacts', unless they include all the relevant background.

Signatures by party: Labour 11, Liberal Democrat 4, Conservative 3.