Secretary of State's ministerial statement on 26 July 2010

In a written Ministerial statement to the House of Commons on Arms Length Bodies on 26 July 2010, Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Jeremy Hunt MP said that: ‘We will also be discussing with the Church of England the merits of declassifying the Churches Conservation Trust so it has greater operational freedom.’

DCMS has told The Churches Conservation Trust that ‘declassification means removing the relationship with Government which results in a body being classified by Cabinet Office as an NDPB (Non Departmental Public Body)’. However, CCT had understood from a letter issued by DCMS in February 2008 that we were not classified as a NDPB.

The Churches Conservation Trust is a registered charity which was founded under Ecclesiastical Law in 1969. It receives funding from its sponsors, the DCMS and the Church Commissioners, and it generates funding itself, including grants, donations and legacies.

Crispin Truman, Chief Executive