House to House charitable collections

The main Act of Parliament covering the licensing of house to house collections is the House to House Collections Act 1939 and regulations made thereunder. These regulations are summarised in this leaflet and provide for the legal control and supervision of licensed collections.

The 1939 Act was introduced with the main aim of preventing the promotion of collections by which considerable sums of money were collected from the public but with very little going to a charitable purpose. Parliament intended, however, to introduce a licensing code for “reasonable activities of reputable charities”. The 1939 Act will, in due course, be replaced by the Charities Act 1992 which will introduce a new licensing code.

Licences for door to door collections are granted to promoters who then empower other persons to act as collectors. You must specify the charitable purpose to benefit from your collection and tell us whether you wish to collect in all or part of Portsmouth.

Licences can be granted for such time periods as we consider suitable and we can either shorten (or extend!) the time period for collecting. In special circumstances, a licence could be issued for a period of 18 months, the normal ‘maximum’ time however is 12 months. From experience, we note, promoters normally apply for a licence for monthly periods at a time.

There are no rules preventing us from granting a number of licences in any one year to the same promoter but in each and every case we must be satisfied that you have complied with the requirements of the Act. Although we can refuse to grant or revoke (on prescribed grounds) a licence, we cannot do so merely because your collecting dates might ‘clash’ with another collection.

Although generally speaking you need a licence to obtain money and/or property by way of public appeal, there are certain exemptions from the Act or other activities that mean you do not need a house to house licence from us. They are:

Local collections over a short period of time

The police may grant a certificate to any person principally concerned in a collection of a local nature which exempts that person from requiring a licence from us under the Act. It is important to note that the collection ‘purpose’ must be local, ie relevant to Portsmouth. You should, if you think this applies to you, go to your local police station and ask to see an Inspector. Tell them you are making application under section 1(4) of the 1939 Act

WARNING: If granted a certificate by the police you and any collectors must not use badges, documents or certificates calculated to deceive the public AND you must not refuse to give your name and address to a police officer if asked. This is an offence.

National collections throughout England

The relevant Secretary of State may exempt a person/organisation from the requirements to hold a licence if satisfied that you “pursue a charitable purpose throughout the whole of England or a substantial part thereof”.

WARNING: Only holders of ‘exemption’ orders may promote envelope collections after obtaining permission from the Secretary of State. No other person or promoter may promote an envelope collection under a licence issued by the Council.

Collecting in a street or public place in Portsmouth

WARNING: You would need a separate Street collection permit from us to collect in this way. You must not therefore collect money ‘on route’ from house to house or say pub to pub.

Selling of goods from door to door in Portsmouth

WARNING: You must not make appeals to the public whatsoever that ANY of the proceeds will be used for a charitable purpose (no matter how small an amount)- you would then need a licence from us. You should also check with the police if you need a pedlar’s certificate.

Leaving a static collecting tin or receptacle in a house or place of business

The 1939 Act specifies that any licence application must be made in “the prescribed manner”. This means the attached application form. This is to allow us to consider carefully the way in which you propose to promote the collection. We may refuse to grant (or revoke) a licence on the following statutory grounds:

• Inadequate amount of money to be given to charitable purposes.
• Excessive payments to persons from proceeds received.
• Likelihood of ‘begging’ offences being committed.
• Applicant not considered fit and proper, having been convicted of specified offence(s) detailed in the 1939 Act. (We might ask the applicant or any other person connected with the charitable purpose to submit police checks.)
• Applicant has previously failed (or is likely to) not exercise due diligence to ensure compliance of regulations, conduct of collectors etc.
• Applicant has not furnished such information as we “may reasonably require”.

It is important therefore that you comply fully with the steps below.
• That you have normally submitted your application at least one month before the proposed collecting date(s) specified in your application.
• That you have completed the application form fully in every respect.
• WARNING: It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement to the Council. We also reserve the right to make more detailed enquiries about your application.

Once you have completed the steps required we will determine your application as quickly as possible. On receiving your licence it is important for you to consider the following

• That you have read and understood the regulations
• That you have provided certificates of authority and badges for your collection (obtainable from HMSO stores).
• That your collectors are over 16 years of age.

That you make arrangements for the return of the statement of income showing details of monies raised to be countersigned by the promoter and another independent responsible person.

• WARNING: The statement of income must be returned to us within one month of the expiry of the licence. Failure to do so is an offence.

THIS IS AN INFORMATION PAGE AND NOT A STATEMENT OF LAW OR HOW WE WILL DEAL WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL APPLICATION.

MAY 2001