Agreement on street fundraising expected
The council was criticised by the association after it said it would fine 'nuisance' fundraisers
Wolverhampton City Council, which announced last year that it would fine "nuisance" street fundraisers up to £500, has reopened talks with the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association.
The council announced in September that street fundraisers in Wolverhampton faced fines of up to £500 if they contravened by-laws aimed at controlling touting.
The move was criticised by the PFRA, which advised its members to ignore the council’s threats. It said it had previously met the council and drawn up a draft site management agreement for the area, which covered issues such as the areas street fundraisers could operate in, but the council had changed its mind about implementing it.
Andy Jervis, head of regulatory services at the council, said it had held a "constructive meeting" with the PFRA on 22 December about controlling the city’s fundraisers.
"We believe we have identified some common ground between the association and ourselves," he said in a statement. "We will now be discussing as a council the points raised in the meeting to identify a suitable way forward and have agreed that we will meet again with the PFRA in the near future to share with it our proposals."
A spokesman for the council said that no fundraisers had been prosecuted for contravening the by-laws, but the laws were still in place.
A spokesman for the PFRA said it was pleased the council had resumed talks but no concrete proposals had yet been discussed.
"We’re confident we will get something agreed," he said.
