Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Hayman of Ullock on 10 September 2024 (HL567), and with reference to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) article Economic statistics classifications and developments in public sector finances: April 2025 published on 22 May, why they do not consider Malvern Hills Trust to be a public body, and how they reconcile their Answer with the decision by the ONS to classify the Malvern Hills Trust to the local government subsector.

It is Defra’s understanding that the Malvern Hills Trust is not a public body. This is based on the Cabinet Office’s guide to the classification of public bodies, which includes a helpful but brief definition in these terms: ‘A public body is a formally established organisation that is publicly funded to deliver a public or government service, though not as a ministerial department. The term refers to a wide range of public sector entities.’

The 1884 Private Bill that established Malvern Hills Trust also does not suggest that it would be classified as a public body.

More information on what constitutes a public body can be accessed in the Cabinet Office guide, which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-bodies-reform (copy attached).

Defra does not hold information on the Office for National Statistics’ classification of the Malvern Hills Trust.