Charitable Collections

A general guide to the law and requirements for obtaining a Charitable Collection Permit

Introduction

If you want to collect money or sell articles in any public place within the Borough of Fareham, for the benefit of charitable or other purposes, then you must hold a charitable collection permit, issued to you by Fareham Borough Council. It is an offence for any person to collect money or sell articles without the benefit of a permit and/or to breach the adopted regulations.

This information tells you:

• What legal requirements you must meet to get a permit.
• What information we need from you to enable us to consider your application.

We will be asking you to complete an application form and to provide information in order that we can process your application. All information received will be treated in confidence.

Please read this information carefully. Feel free to ask for advice at any time.

What are the legal requirements?

The main Act of Parliament covering the licensing of street collections is the Police, Factories etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916. This legislation allows authorities to make regulations concerning these collections and these are detailed overleaf.

We wish to grant as many permits as possible to help charitable or other purposes and will do so provided we are satisfied that:

1. You will collect money or sell articles for the benefit of charitable or other purposes in any street or public place in the Borough of Fareham. For clarification purposes a street collection permit in the Borough of Fareham would not be required for a collection held:

• inside a pub or club (if going from one pub to another you will need a house to house collection licence)
• inside a cinema or theatre
• in a private dwelling house
• in a works or business premises.

A permit is not required for:

• the selling of articles in any street or public place when articles are sold in the ordinary course of trade and for the purposes of earning a livelihood.

Warning: If selling in the course of trade you must not make any representation whatsoever that any part of the proceeds of sale will be devoted to any charitable purpose. Selling is only permitted in a street if you hold a Street Trading Consent issued by Fareham Borough Council.

1. You have been honest in supplying information to us and must not, under any circumstances, make a false statement at any time to obtain your permit. This is a serious offence.

What information must you provide to us?

To help us consider your application we would like you to show us:

1. That you have submitted your application at least 28 days before the proposed collection date(s) specified in your application.
2. That you have completed the application form fully in every respect.

Warning: Failure to complete the application form will result in us not being able to consider your application immediately or delaying consideration until you have provided any outstanding information. We reserve the right to make more detailed enquiries about your application in certain circumstances. This could include requesting that the applicants or any other person connected with the organisation submitting police checks at our request.

Granting your permit

Once you have completed steps 1 and 2 we will determine your application as soon as possible. We allow collections 7 days a week but do not, as a matter of policy, permit multiple collections on the same day in the same area of the Borough, except during the month of December. We will always offer alternative dates for your collection.

On receiving your permit it is important for you to consider the following:

• That you have retained and understood the regulations controlling your collection.
• That you have provided written authority for your collectors to take part in the collection.
• That your collectors are over 16 years of age.
• That you make arrangements for the return of the statement of income showing the details of monies raised to be countersigned by an accountant or other independent, responsible person.

Warning: The statement of income must be returned to us within one month of the collecting date. Failure to do so is an offence and may result in any future applications being refused by the Council.

If for any reason we cannot support your application, the matter will be referred to the Licensing and Regulatory Affairs Committee for determination. As the law currently stands, there is no general right of appeal against the Council's decision to either the Magistrates' or Crown Court.

Do you need a permit to collect at a supermarket or shopping centre?

Fareham Borough Council has adopted a policy whereby any collection or sales of articles for charitable or other purposes carried out where the general public have access (without a fee being paid) requires a permit.

However, you will need to obtain the written permission from the premises or shopping centre management where you wish to hold a collection or sale of articles, authorising the use of the premises or shopping centre for such use on such day. A copy of this permission must be accompanied with your application form for a permit.

The regulations will also apply to these charitable collections.

How early can you arrange a street collection?

You can arrange for a charitable collection permit no more than 12 months in advance. However, the minimum period required is 28 days notice of any proposed collection date.

Further information can be obtained from:

• The Charity Commission 

If you would like any further information please e-mail us at regulatory@fareham.gov.uk or telephone the Licensing Team on tel 01329 236100 ext 4366.