Ex-apprenticeships boss Peter Marples has been ordered to stump up most – but not all – of the Department for Education’s legal bill following the collapse of his £37 million High Court claim.
A sealed court order shows the High Court ruled Marples and his family of co-claimants must pay £1.05 million “on account of the defendant’s costs”, after the DfE achieved a “complete victory” by successfully defending the case in full.
FE Week understands that the claimants’ own legal costs topped £1 million.
The payment to the DfE does not cover the department’s total legal bill. The judge, Mr Justice Rajah, made clear the sum represented around 60 per cent of the department’s anticipated costs at an earlier stage of proceedings.
The DfE had argued its overall legal costs were significantly higher, with written submissions stating they hit “approximately £2.8 million”. But the judge declined to order a higher payment, noting there was “no costs schedule or evidence of that figure” and “no explanation as to why it is so greatly in excess of the costs anticipated”.
The combined costs highlight how legal action against the DfE is effectively out of reach for most training providers, given the financial risks involved.
‘A complete victory’
The ruling follows last year’s High Court judgment dismissing Marples’ claim in its entirety.
He had claimed negligence and misfeasance in public office, alleging the DfE’s then Skills Funding Agency acted with malice when refusing to sign off on a change of control that scuppered a planned sale of apprenticeship giant 3aaa to Trilantic Capital Partners in 2016.
As previously reported by FE Week, the court rejected allegations that the DfE had acted unlawfully or with bias, with the judge concluding there was “no grudge” against Marples and that the department had achieved a “complete victory”.
The trial took place over multiple weeks in June and July, with judgment handed down in October.
Marples had the option of applying for permission to appeal the decision but this was not taken up.
In the recent costs order, Mr Justice Rajah said the claim had failed on all substantive grounds and this justified applying the general rule that the losing party should pay the successful party’s costs.
He added that a “fundamental failure” of Marples’ legal team was their “failure to recognise that the defendant had a good defence to this claim”.
Marples and the DfE declined to comment.
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