School, which told community it struggled to find money for heating, finds £200,000 for legal case against parents

Judge orders transparency over payments for legal costs, following Freedom of Information challenge

A school which funded the legal costs of a headteacher who claimed damages for harassment against two parents, which they denied, has told Education Uncovered that its costs were paid for from “self-generated funds”.

Kevin Flanagan, headteacher of Pensby High School in Wirral, Merseyside, gained national media coverage after claiming £20,000 from Keith and Stephanie Critchley and then winning a reported £10,000 after they settled with him, following mediation.

The Mirror reported in February that Mr Flanagan’s legal representatives, Brabners LLP, had said that the Critchleys had been ordered to pay £10,000 in legal costs and damages. 

However, there was uncertainty as to how much the action had cost the school, as well as the source of the funding.

Pensby High School is a foundation school. This means it receives funding from the local authority – so it is not an academy – but owns its land and buildings.

In February, a member of the public, James Griffiths, asked the school under Freedom of Information for the total legal costs for the school, and the source of funding. This, however, was refused.

Mr Griffiths appealed to the Information Commissioner, but the latter upheld the school’s decision, having accepted Pensby High’s arguments that releasing the information would subject Mr Flanagan to distress, and that the sources of the funding could not be determined within the school’s overall income.

However, Mr Griffiths then took his case to a tribunal. This has now ruled that the total figure for costs should be provided to Mr Griffiths. 

In its decision, the tribunal’s judge, Sophie Buckley, ruled that the total costs figure should be provided by the school to Mr Griffiths. She referred to a letter, sent in September 2022, in which the school had told parents about the budgetary pressures that it faced, as evidence of the need for transparency about how the school was spending its money.

The letter, the tribunal’s decision notice said, had warned “parents that the School cannot meet the rapid rises in gas and electric costs from the current school budget and has to find efficiencies”. It had concluded, it said, by saying that the school would delay putting the heating on for as long as possible, and keep the temperature to 19 degrees.

The decision notice concluded: “We take the view that it is important for there to be transparency for a significant item of expenditure which is not part of the usual annual expenditure for a school. Schools have to make difficult decisions about what they spend their money on, and it is important that those decisions can be scrutinised and interrogated by an informed public.”

The decision notice had also stated that Wirral Council had “confirmed publicly,” in January 2025 – I understand through another Freedom of Information response - that £210,576.79 “was paid to the relevant solicitors from the School’s account”.

Where did this money come from?

The Law Society Gazette reported last week that Brabners had told it that its costs were paid for from “funds generated by the charitable trust which oversees the school,” rather than from the school’s day-to-day budget. 

However, according to accounts filed with the Charity Commission, the Pensby High School Foundation Trust has never had any income.

I therefore asked the school how the money could have come from the foundation, given what the accounts state, and how much has been paid in legal fees.

A spokesperson responded: “The legal fees were supported by the Trust’s self-generated funds – primarily income generated from private use of its grounds and sports facilities…those funds aren’t held in the charity’s accounts.

“Wirral Council’s guidance suggests that income generated from lettings cannot be held in the Trust’s own accounts. Unfortunately, this guidance is contrary to current applicable Department for Education guidance, which states that where land is held by a charitable trust, the trust may determine the use of any income generated by it and hold its own bank account.”

In terms of the amount paid, the spokesperson said the figure of £210,576.79, as also reported by BBC Liverpool last week, was “more accurate” than an estimated figure from last year of £500,000.

I asked the spokesperson how much money had been generated in “self-generated funds” in recent years, and how much exactly the school’s legal payments have been. 

The spokesperson said that "the figure for the casework is £204k". In terms of other questions, including how much had been generated in "self-generated funds," he said he would get back to me on that.

Brabners is well-known for its work on the “Wagatha Christie” case, in which it supported Coleen Rooney’s successful defence against Rebekah Vardy.

Pensby High School has been the venue for the production of TV shows including, it was reported in 2024, the BBC show Henpocolypse!, which aired the previous year.