Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of trends in the level of funds spent by (a) schools and (b) trusts on legal advice in relation to complaints.

Each year, schools receive core funding from the department to cover their expenditures. The funding schools receive is not ringfenced for any specific form of expenditure and it is for each school to determine how this money will be best used to support their individual circumstances.

We do not keep records of schools or trust spending on legal advice in relation to complaints or any other legal matters.

All schools must have a written complaints procedure that tells complainants how they can make a complaint and how the school will handle it. This must be available on request to complainants.