Paul Convery
Councillor Paul Convery says the London borough wants to tackle the 'nuisance' of chugging
A north London borough is calling for an end to street fundraising in the area and says it has asked the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association to remove approved fundraising sites in the borough from its database.
Councillor Paul Convery, executive member for planning, regeneration and parking at the Labour-run Islington Council, said the authority had asked the PFRA to stop the activities of collectors on the street in Islington.
"The time has come to tackle the nuisance of high volumes of fundraisers on the pavement at the same time," he said. "We are also joining the call on the government to enact legislation allowing local authorities to control charity canvassers."
The PFRA oversees seven sites in Islington that it has approved for street fundraising and which it regulates through spot checks.
A spokesman for the PFRA said it had not received a request from the council to stop street fundraising in Islington. But he said that if it did it would not comply with the request.
He said that Islington Council could instead agree a site management agreement with the PFRA, by means of which the two sides could agree on subjects such as the number of fundraisers allowed to operate in the borough, the areas they could operate in and the days they could work.
"You can’t ban things because you don’t like them," the spokesman said. "That’s not democracy in action."
