The school revealed it was paying “significant sums” for the case following an investigation
Pensby High School, Pensby, Wirral.(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A leading Wirral secondary school has confirmed it could be footing a legal bill of more than half a million pounds as its headteacher looks to take two parents to court. The case brought by Pensby High School headteacher Kevin Flanagan is due to be heard by the High Court later this year.
Mr Flanagan is accusing Keith and Stephanie Critchley, whose children used to attend Pensby, of harassment as well as seeking an injunction meaning that while Mr Flanagan remains headteacher, the couple are not to enter the school or a restricted zone around it, publish any material about Mr Flanagan, or knowingly drive within 50m of him. This is following what he claims are a number of incidents that include “physical intimidation, harassment, abuse and stalking.”
The family strongly deny any harassment claims and have accused Mr Flanagan of bullying behaviour after attempting to raise concerns with the school about their daughters when they attended the school. They claim they had raised issues about the school including with both Ofsted and Wirral Council, and assert they have acted reasonably, transparently, and lawfully throughout.
Legal costs for the case could run to over £577,508 if it goes to court, according to legal documents seen by the ECHO. The school has not specified how much has been spent already on the case.
The school initially responded to a Freedom of Information request in March 2024 refusing to confirm or deny it held information about whether the school was funding the legal claim.
But following an investigation, the Information Commissioner (ICO) reported that the school had changed its position and accepted it was paying the legal fees in this case.
Despite considering the litigation to be personal in nature, the ICO said: “Significant sums of public money are involved and there is a public interest in understanding the decision-making process.”
The ICO said the school did not plan to publish the costs in its accounts as it argued to the data watchdog “it does not fund specific activities from specific income sources. There is a single pool of income (from all sources) and all activities that require funding draw their funds from this pool.”
The report added: “The money that the public authority [Pensby High School] has agreed to pay in costs is either money that cannot be spent educating children or money that must be re-raised by the public authority to ensure no detriment to its pupils.
“The public authority clearly believes that it owes a duty of care to its employee and that, given the exceptional circumstances, that duty warrants exceptional action to protect the employee. There may or may not be sound reasons to support that decision, but that doesn’t relieve the public authority of its obligation to be transparent about its decisions.”
A High Court date has been set for later this year(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A High Court date has been scheduled in Manchester for November 17 2025 and the hearing is likely to take place over ten days if it goes ahead. A recent court order the two parties should “use their best endeavours” to seek to settle the claim and a mediation meeting is due to take place later this month.
Pensby High School is a foundation school which is managed by the Pensby High School Foundation Trust, which is registered with the Charity Commission.
The foundation trust’s latest accounts say it had no income in 2022/23. However that year, the school’s accounts show it spent £5.68m with an income of £5.89m and a reserve of £1.29m.
The school confirmed the reserve is being used to help cover the legal costs. In its response to the Freedom of Information request, school bosses said: “Any costs paid by the school in regard to the legal action do not exceed the school’s self-generated income,” adding: “Self generated income refers to income not derived from the public purse but rather activities available to the Trust and school given its status as a foundation maintained school.”
This income is understood to have come from private lettings including sports as well as TV shows. ITV and BBC productions have previously been filmed at the school.
The school pointed to its internal governance policy, which they said states that the foundation remains separate from the school and its board and “makes its own judgment with regard to the disposal of the funds held by the Foundation and the wider benefits to the school community.”
However the Foundation Trust’s latest accounts say income must be “used directly to increase the provision of teaching and learning for the students at Pensby High School” and the oversight of their use is “currently devolved to the Governors for use within the school.”
Concerns have been raised by the Critchleys about the use of the fund. The couple said they wanted to “highlight the disproportionate nature of the legal proceedings with claimed damages of £20,000 dwarfed by legal costs exceeding £550,000” citing a court claim form from October 2023.
The couple claim hundreds of thousands of pounds have already been paid by the Pensby governing body on the case, which they say “raises serious concern about proportionality and mismanagement of funds” and accused the school of “undermining public trust.” The school has not responded directly to claims about how much has been spent so far.
In a statement, the couple said: “We express deep concern about the misuse of Pensby High School’s resources—funds intended to support students, staff, and the wider community. We argue that these expenditures strain resources meant for teaching and learning, directly contradicting the Foundation’s purpose.”
They claimed: “The decision to fund Mr. Flanagan’s private harassment case is inconsistent with the Governing Body’s core responsibilities,” claiming that the school shouldn’t be funding a private case.
The Critchleys reaffirmed their commitment to resolving the matter, but added that they are “deeply troubled by the ongoing diversion of essential funds.” The couple also questioned the organisation’s priorities, pointing out that in September 2022, Mr Flanagan asked parents “to dress their children in extra layers due to unaffordable heating bills, yet now expects parents to accept over half a million pounds being spent on his private legal costs.” The school responded to say the trust cannot use its funds to deal with budgetary difficulties or day-to-day spending.
The school’s trust said it was “fully supportive” of Mr Flanagan’s case(Image: Liverpool Echo)
A spokesperson for the Pensby High School Foundation Trust said: “The trust, in consultation with school governors, is fully supportive of Mr Flanagan’s harassment claim against Mr and Mrs Critchley as part of our legal obligation to protect the safety and welfare of those employed at Pensby High School.
“This duty of care includes providing support for legal fees where staff are the victims of alleged harassment. The trust is permitted to provide such support through self-generated funds – primarily income generated from private use of its grounds and sports facilities. The school’s day-to-day educational activity, which is rated “good” by OFSTED, is not dependent upon these funds and equally, as a claimant, Mr Flanagan is seeking recovery of the legal costs.
“The statutory Department for Education guidance (introduced in February 2019 and updated annually), states that where land is held by a charitable trust, it is for the trustees to determine the use of any income generated by the land.
“Wirral Council guidance states that income generated from lettings cannot be held in the Trust’s own account and must be placed into the school account.
“Legal proceedings in relation to Mr and Mrs Critchley’s alleged harassment of Mr Flanagan have always been the option of last resort and followed pain-staking and exhaustive efforts by Mr Flanagan and the school’s staff to resolve the matter privately, non-confrontationally and, subsequently, via the police.
“At a recent hearing in October, the Court encouraged the Critchleys to attempt to settle the harassment claim against them. The Judge ordered that a settlement meeting and mediation must take place, and that the Critchleys’ engagement with this process must be in a ‘timely and constructive’ manner.
“We welcome the pre-trial recommendation and remain open to resolving matters in this way. However, if required, any eventual court hearing will at least enable Mr Flanagan’s evidence supporting allegations of a sustained campaign of hostility – including physical intimidation, harassment, abuse and stalking – to be presented publicly, and the Court can decide what orders are appropriate.”
The Critchleys said: “We strongly deny the allegations of harassment and assert that we have acted reasonably, transparently, and lawfully throughout. We emphasise that our duty of care to our daughters, Kayti and Leigha, has been the driving force behind our actions.”
The couple intend to represent themselves in court, adding: “Our stance is a direct response to the Governing Body’s failure to exercise its own duty of care when our children attended the school. Kayti and Leigha were subjected to bullying, and Leigha was kept in isolation despite suffering from panic and anxiety, causing further harm to their wellbeing.”
They added: “We are confident our evidence will refute the allegations and demonstrate our adherence to our rights. We trust the court will recognise our duty of care to our children and the harm this litigation imposes on the wider school community. Any resolution, we argue, must safeguard the school’s resources, ensure fairness, and address the broader implications for students, staff, and families.”
It’s understood no police investigations are ongoing. The Department for Education and Wirral Council were both approached for clarification on their guidance to the school. The council declined to answer whether it was still investigating concerns raised about the school.