A frugal life is an easy life!

Case summary:
- A charity post a clothing collection bag (ignoring a clear notice not to post bags/flyers through my letterbox), I return it to the agent, who then throws it in my garden when I have gone back inside the house.
- I rang my local council to ask what can be done, the council inform me that the charity (and it's collection partner company) do not have a license to make collections.
- I then rang the charity itself, who told me that they agree 100% with my complaint, as "it doesn't put our charity in a good light" - I am told that a meeting is planned that day with the owner of the collection company and this matter will be raised with him and the collection will not go ahead.
- The next day, the charity's van drives down our street looking for bags to collect, I note down the registration and ring the charity again. The same lady at the charity confirms that the van is not one of the collection company's vans, but their own van doing the unlicensed collection.
- The police stop the van and issue the driver a warning about posting bags through letterboxes, whilst the council's licensing officer is out around the area trying to catch the charity van in the act of an unlicensed, illegal collection.
- Via this website, people have been kindly posting that collections are taking place all over the country, by the same charity. In the area next to mine, I am told that just days later, another unlicensed collection by the same charity is taking place.
- In a later development, the charity instruct a solicitor to act. The solicitor tries to obtain my own personal details via a third party, against the Data Protection Act. This attempt fails, as does the solicitor's attempts to have frugal ways website closed down, both permanently and/or whilst the charity's complaint is investigated.

This is how the Charity commission fail to act:

- I rang them to register a complaint and am told, "Unless we receive around 3000 complaints of the same thing from the same charity it's highly unlikely that any action will be taken"
- A complaint in writing is sent to the charity commission.
- Weeks later, I receive the following email from the charity commission's "compliance investigations unit, Liverpool"

"Although it is some weeks since you sent this to the Charity Commission, I would like to assure you that your concerns have been brought to the attention of the Commissions Compliance team about the manner in which the charity is operating.  We have received a number of complaints about this charity and are currently in the process of looking into these matters.  Part of the our role is to evaluate causes for concern, and if substantiated, ensure they are rectified, either through the use of statutory powers or by providing regulatory guidance and advice to the charity trustees."

This was last month, so yesterday, via twitter @chtycommission I asked if there was any progress on their investigations into unlicensed, illegal doorstep collections by charities and in charity's names.
The commission replied, "See FRSB website who mostly handle charity fundraising complaints. If its not a charity & claims 2 b, tell trading standards." (The fundraising standards board website can be seen when clicking on this link)

So it appears that now the Charity commission are not investigating what their own "compliance investigation unit" are telling people they do?
I asked why I was being referred to another public body when the charity commission themselves state they were investigating?
They pointed me to read their - Approach and regulation page on the commission's website

The Charity Commission need to provide action or answers on the following:

* The charity concerned have admitted collecting without a license. The charity also stated that it was their collection company partners (a private company) that were carrying out the collections, when it was not - Why does the commission need "3000 similar complaints" before it will even investigate?
Would a quick phone call to the charity concerned, myself, my local council's licensing officer, our local police, not confirm this to be the case?

* Ignoring a complaint is one thing, but telling the person complaining that the commission is investigating and then telling them a month later, that it is not something they would investigate, really isn't good enough.
The Charity Commission are responsible in this case, and here's why (I have made bold, parts I think are relevant):

"Our aim is to provide the best possible regulation of charities to increase their effectiveness and levels of public confidence in them"
"We also follow the principles of best regulatory practice, ensuring our actions are proportionate, accountable, consistent, transparent and targeted" (Source: Charity commission website "Approach to regulation" page)

"The Policy and Effectiveness Directorate develops the policies and plans that ensure that the Commission is an effective, efficient and modern regulator [continued...] The Directorate also includes the Corporate Affairs team who communicate and engage with the sector, the media, parliamentarians and the public to make sure public trust and confidence in charities remains high."

"Legal and Compliance Directorate - Our Compliance Directorate proactively identifies and investigates allegations of abuse in charities, taking firm and robust action where allegations of misuse or maladministration are found."
"Alongside ensuring charities comply with their legal requirements, our Compliance teams also work with individual charities to help them rectify mistakes and put robust systems in place to ensure problems don’t reoccur" (Source: Charity commision website "Careers" page)

Some of the "Careers" available with the Charity commission include:

* "Case Officers who assess complaints and carry out compliance visits to charities"
* "Specialist Officers dealing with areas such as resolving disputes in charities, fundraising abuse and governance problems"
* "Outreach Officers working with the sector to prevent abuse taking place in the first place"
* "Legal Advisers providing specialist advice on legal compliance, policy work and running litigation cases"

The Charity commission also have, "The Charity Information team ensures that charities are transparent to their beneficiaries, donors, and the wider public"

I would suggest that I have more than proven my case that the Charity commission should act upon an admitted unlicensed collection, with immediate effect.
The Charity commission will receive £29 Million pounds of taxpayer's money to fund their work in 2011/2012.
I would ask the commission why it passes complaints to other public bodies?
I would ask the commission why it is not "transparent" and is not concerned with unlicensed, illegal doorstep collections by charities and by collection companies (making huge profits) using a charity's name?

Above all, I would ask the commission why it will not do the job it's own website/documentation/careers information states that it should be and is, doing?

You can add to and keep up with our discussions on this issue and others on twitter @frugal_ways

UPDATE:

The Charity commission's twitter team have now read this post, their response;

* Sending complaints about fundraising to a totally seperate taxpayer funded body - No comment
* What action is being taken (In general) regarding illegal, unlicensed clothing collections? - No comment
* Why does it take "Around 3000 complaints" to be reported before an investigation is started? - No comment
* Case officers, specialist officers, outreach officers, legal advisers, all employed by the Charity commission, why have they not done anything about this problem? - No comment

I rang the Charity commission this morning, they have just returned my call.

The issue of unlicensed doorstep clothing collections is draining resources at local level.
The police's time, council licensing officers, councillors themselves, trading standards staff (all over the country), even refuse collectors and contributing to landfill, all of which YOU pay for through your taxes.
This issue I am told by the Charity commission, is being dealt with, although the investigating officer couldn't give me any details as to wether the commission had been in touch with the charity, or what action had been taken, just assurances.

I have to say, I'm inclined not to believe them. The reason is, that since my complaint these collections are still happening all over the country.
Surely if the regulator had got involved and had discussions with the trustees of the charity that was collecting illegally, then they would be stopped or licenses would be applied for, before anymore collections took place?

After being told that clothing companies collect on behalf of the charities, I stopped that excuse in its tracks, as here we have a clear case of the charity themselves admitting it was their own van collecting without a license.

Next I questioned how the commission was "transparent" when it wouldn't give me any information about the procedures and what had been done so far?

The investigating officer then suggested that it wasn't always part of the commission's remit with regard to clothing collections.... so why are the charity commission a regulator and why do they pay thousands of pounds to employ staff to do just that (as listed on their website)?

Then it was suggested that if the collections are illegal, then it's a police matter.
The police refer me to the council, the council inform me they can only bring a civil action, the licensing officer puts a civil action to the council, but finances dictate that action is not taken, which would cost more money from local council funding.
The regulator should be acting in this case and others. It is not.
I questioned why taxpayer's are paying out £29 Million pounds this year for a charity regulator that is doing nothing?

I was then informed that in this case, what I had told the investigating officer wasn't all in the written complaint made to the commission.
It was agreed that I would write to them once again with the details.

If you have received any charity clothing collection bags or flyers through your door, here is the following action you can take:

• Ring your local council, ask for your licensing office and ask if the charity/clothing collection company have a license to carry out doorstep collections
• If they do, then the issue of clothing collections excessive profits should be raised with your local councillor, ask why the license was granted when the charity receive very little of the money generated by the collection.
• If they don't have a license, then contact the Charity commission in writing, via their website, registering a complaint.

As the charity commission officer told me, the "collecting evidence stage takes about 6 months" - the more the public raise this issue, the sooner the regulator/charity commission will get off its backside and actually DO something about it!

UPDATE 2:

Whilst preparing to place a freedom of information act request with the Charity commission, I came across information already published under the FOI act, which makes a mockery of the Charity commission's claims to myself, made today, by their investigating officer, that gathering information for a case takes 6 months.

"3. Where the Commission considers it necessary to exercise its own
powers, by conducting a formal inquiry into a charity's activities or
administration, there is no set timescale involved. Each such Inquiry
is conducted for however long is required to complete it, each is
conducted on a case by case basis dependent on the specific
circumstances and nature of concern involved" (Source: Charity commission freedom of information act response, 10th December 2010)

From the same response, the Charity commission's reply states, "Where allegations of criminal activity are involved, these should be
reported to the Police rather than the Commission"
Also from the same response, the Charity commission states, "Our role as Regulator does not extend to mediating or investigating what are Civil matters, falling to the Courts where they can not be resolved between the parties concerned"

Which leaves just one question of the Charity commission - £29 Million pounds of funding this year, the Charity commission DO NOT deal with criminal matters, they also DO NOT deal with civil matters, exactly what do the charity commission deal with/regulate over?