The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the Commission's chief executive to reply.

Letter from Sam Younger, dated 15 January 2014:

I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question to the Minister for the Cabinet Office asking when the decision to give the Plymouth Brethren charity status will be made.

The Charity Commission announced on 9 January that we will accept an application for registration from the Preston Down Trust, a Plymouth Brethren Christian Church meeting hall, based on a revised governing document. The Trust has agreed to re-submit an application for registration and to amend its trusts by entering into a Deed of Variation, which sets out in a manner binding on the trustees the church's core religious doctrines and practices.

In our decision the Commission said we are satisfied that under the new governing document the organisation is charitable and that the Commission will be able to regulate the charity against the new trusts.

This application was made as a precursor to similar applications to be made in due course by the trustees of other meetings halls held for the purposes of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church and, as such, was seen as a test case for other Plymouth Brethren meeting halls.

The full decision is available on the Commission's website and, recognising the considerable Parliamentary interest in this registration case, I have placed a copy in the House of Commons library.