The main Act of Parliament covering the licensing of street collections is the Police. Factories etc (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1916. Model regulations contained in the Charitable Collections (Transitional Provisions) Order 1974 have been adopted by the Council. These regulations are shown in this leaflet and provide for the legal control and supervision of licensed collections.
We wish to grant as many permits as possible to help charitable or other purposes and will do so provided we are satisfied that:
- You will collect money or sell articles for the benefit of charitable or other purposes in any street or public place in Portsmouth. Street includes “any highway and public bridge, road, lane, footway, square, court, alley or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not”. Collections however in places where there is no public right of access do not require our permission, although the Charities Act 1992 (when it comes into force) will introduce a licensing code for certain private places. For Clarification purposes a street collection permit in Portsmouth would not be required for a collection held:
- Inside a shop or shopping mall (you will need the permission of the owner 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 also not required (even if collecting in a public place) for:
- a meeting in the open air
- the selling of articles in any street or public place when the 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 the Portsmouth City Council.
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.
In Portsmouth you are not permitted to collect on the seafront promenade or beach areas