Abstract

In 2012, the Charity Commission for England and Wales rejected the Preston Down Trust (PDT) application for charitable status because it concluded that doctrines of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) as practiced by the PDT did not meet the public benefit requirement in charity law. This came as a result of the removal of the presumption of benefit in the Charities Act 2006 (now Charities Act 2011). On January 8, 2014 the Charity Commission reversed its 2012 decision following political controversy and negotiations with the PBCC.

This chapter contextualizes the PDT case within the wider controversies which have surrounded the PBCC over the last half-century, including the 1981 pre-reform case (Holmes v Attorney General). It reviews the political fallout of the PDT decision, as well as the PBCC's efforts to better establish its public benefit in the face of possible deregistration, and the ways in which the Charity Commission has sought to ensure that the PDT abides by its stated purposes.

This case study provides a framework for analysis of future cases involving other religious minorities in a similar predicament. The chapter concludes by noting that the question of undesirable state interference needs to be considered, especially when there is public criticism of controversial minority religious groups. The PDT case, whatever its merits or flaws, clearly highlights a series of problem areas in charity law reform in England and Wales and raises a series of issues which other common law jurisdictions would be well advised to consider as they tackle reforms.

Introduction

On 7 June 2012, the Charity Commission for England and Wales rejected an application by the Preston Down Trust (henceforth PDT) for charitable status on the grounds that it was ‘not satisfied it was able to determine conclusively that the doctrines and practices of the PBCC [Plymouth Brethren Christian Church] as practised by PDT met the public benefit requirement in charity law and, consequently, that PDT was not established for exclusively charitable purposes for the public benefit’. This trust was operated by the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC), then better known as the ‘Exclusive Brethren’, a conservative evangelical Protestant group known for their strict adherence to a doctrine known as ‘separation from evil’.