Malvern Hills Trust:�Busting the Myth-Busters

Myth 1: The true cost of a new Bill

“It is therefore disappointing to see certain campaigners using the hills as a political football and being so careless with the truth – it is a deeply unserious way to behave and the people who care about the hills deserve better”.��John Michael, Chairman of the Trustees, Spring Newsletter 7 April 2025

We agree.��The public deserves to know the truth about the new Bill.��

The Trust are complaining that people have said the Bill will cost over £800,000.��They would like you to believe that it will cost only £410,000.��The next slide shows what the Trust says on its web site, under Myth-Busters

Myth: The Trust will be spending over £800,000 on the Bill.��Myth Buster: This is not true.  ��The Trust has set a budget of £410,000 which includes the Charity Commission’s initial ceiling of £306,000 to prepare and promote the Bill in Parliament��Source: Malvern Hills Trust web site

We believe a Bill will end up costing �more than ��£1 million pounds��And this is why..

It depends what you include in the cost. For example, £130,000 has been spent on the first failed attempt to get the changes made with Charity Commission support. So this cost should be regarded as part of the total cost of getting a new Act.�

The Charity Commission withdrew its support because there was so much opposition.��Instead, the Trust had to submit a Private Bill to Parliament

So the cost of a new Bill is actually: ��£130,000 wasted on the failed attempt to get changes without a Private Bill.��plus��£410,000 quoted by the Trust.��But that’s not all….���

The £306,000 is a loan to be repaid over 25 years at 6%.��The interest on that is £285,469

So the total cost of a new Bill is actually � £825,469��This cost been approved by the Trustees.��and…�

��There are also indirect costs which under the Trust’s accounting policies are legitimately included under other headings. ��These costs are hidden from the public. �

For example:��£21,799 was declared in the Management Accounts April-Dec 2024 for governance based legal advice.

This probably relates to the Serious Incident Report over Cynthia Palmer’s resignation as Chair of Trust due to her allegation of being bullied and belittled for telling the truth about the Bill, and…

The cost of dealing with the five honest Trustees who have petitioned The House of Lords against the Bill. ��The Trust has now suspended them from all matters relating to the Bill.�

And:��£25,000 Crisis management and PR consultancy��This expenditure has been approved by the Trustees and is principally for professional advice on how to handle the media and stakeholder pressure the Trust has had to manage in relation to the changes proposed in the new Bill. �

And:��Other indirect costs such as staff overtime.�

So what is a new Bill going to cost?��The Trust was asked on 13 March and replied ��“At the moment we can’t answer that”��However, £875,000 has already been approved.�� ��

And:��The Trust now face the cost of dealing with 50 petitions against the Bill and may have to ask The Charity Commission for permission for a further loan to pay for more legal costs. ����

Remember, the Trust said the £306,000 approved loan was an ��“initial ceiling”.�

So, we believe that the true cost of getting a Bill through Parliament will be at least ��

£1,000,000

��Are we scaremongering to say over £1,000,000 pounds?����

No.��Because when the Bill reaches The House of Commons the public can and will petition again and we expect the number of petitioners to at least double.��Dealing with that will incur further costs.

The Trust’s annual income is about £1.4million and we think that spending £1million on a new Bill is largely a waste of charitable funds. Most of the proposed changes are completely unnecessary.��

Imagine how much conservation and protection of the natural aspect of the hills and commons could have been done with £1,000,000.

What can you do about it?��It isn’t too late to stop throwing more good money after bad.��.��

What you can do:��Write to John Michael, Chair of the Board and your local Trustee and ask them not to spend any more money other than what has already been approved.��

Write to Deborah Fox-Champkins, CEO of Malvern Hills Trust and complain about the misleading information on the Trust’s web site.

Write to your MP and ask her/him to bring pressure on the Trust to stop spending more money on the Bill, and simply let Parliament decide what changes to the Bill need to be made.

Write to The Charity Commission and ask them to refuse any further borrowing on the grounds that it is waste of charitable funds. ��Demand to know what business case the Trust has submitted that could possibly justify this level of expenditure already�incurred.��

Write to the Malvern Gazette and your favourite National Newspaper and tell them what you think about the way the Trustees are wasting charitable funds instead of taking caring of the hills.

And:��Register with us if you are interested in submitting a petition to the House of Commons.��It is very easy to submit a petition and we will provide free assistance on how to do this.��Just email us at malvernenvironmentprotectiongp@gmail.com

This Busting the Myth-Buster has been produced because we agree with the required conduct set out in Malvern Hills Trust’s Governance Handbook:�� “Be honest”��Page 6: Required Conduct. Using MHT’s social media channels��and we would honestly like you to know how much money is being spent on this largely unnecessary Bill���