Complaints handling in the AI era - Top tips for academies on AI-generated parental complaints

How is AI changing parental complaints raised with academies?

Widespread access to generative AI tools such as ChatGPT is increasingly informing how complaints are being raised by parents. Although AI itself can be a useful tool in facilitating effective communication, we have seen a growing trend in AI-generated complaints which:

• Are lengthy, repetitive and complex

• Are overly legalistic and often misstate the law

• Result in higher volumes of correspondence sent by parents

• Are adversarial in tone, including (often misguided) threats of legal action

Complaints of this nature often exacerbate tensions with parents and draw out processes unnecessarily, increasing the administrative burden on academies.

What must an academy complaints procedure include?

Before tackling the challenges presented by AI-generated complaints, academies must understand the fundamentals of complaints handling.

Academies must follow Part 7 of the Schedule to The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014, which requires a written policy to be made available to parents of pupils, which:

• Sets out clear timescales

• Allows a three-stage process (informal, formal and panel hearing)

• Makes certain stipulations about the composition of the stage three panel and the hearing process

• Allows a panel to make findings and recommendations, and provides for these to be shared with the complainant and made available for inspection on school premises by the proprietor and headteacher

• Provides for certain records to be kept regarding stage two and three of the procedure

• Provides that correspondence, statements and records relating to individual complaints be kept confidential except where the Secretary of State or an inspecting body requests access to them

Academies should have regard to the Department for Education's (DfE) Best practice guidance for academies complaints procedures. This includes practical information about managing serial, persistent and vexatious complaints and complaint campaigns. It also confirms that the three-stage process need only apply to parents of current pupils and parents of former pupils (but only where the complaint was first raised when the child was a registered pupil). Complaints from others, such as members of the public, need only be dealt with fairly and expediently, outside of the procedure.

Procedure and proactivity

Preparation for complaints management can help the process run smoothly, and having clear, accessible policies in place is essential. AI-generated complaints often conflate issues, not all of which typically fall within the scope of a complaints procedure, such as challenges to exclusions. Identifying the correct route may be challenging where concerns raised blur the boundaries between different processes.

Policies should clearly set out the scope of issues that can be managed under them, timescales and definitions of 'complaints' and 'complainants'. This can help academies to decisively categorise issues and manage expectations. Early in the process, academies should try to identify whether communications should be treated as:

• Complaints

• Subject access requests

• Freedom of information requests

• Safeguarding concerns, or

• Something else (e.g. a potential legal claim or query falling outside of the complaints procedure's scope)

and manage each issue within the correct process(es).

Many complaints policies were developed before AI use became prevalent, so academies may wish to review whether their policies adequately address:

• Procedures for managing excessive or repetitive correspondence from parents

• Communication protocols where these are appropriate or required

• Clear statements on expectations of behaviour and conduct from parents when raising complaints

How should academies respond to AI-generated complaints?

When managing AI-generated complaints, academies may find the following tips helpful:

• Be proactive - Proactively taking internal action, being transparent about progress and adopting a constructive approach can help to support de-escalation. Occasionally, organising a meeting can be a more effective method of resolving issues and avoiding prolonged written correspondence between the parties.

• Be concise - Academies should focus on extracting substantive issues, and where these are difficult to distil from a large volume of correspondence, ask complainants to clarify the scope and basis of their complaint so that it can be managed effectively

• Avoid legal arguments - Some AI-generated complaints reference legal concepts and case law incorrectly. Academies should avoid engaging in legal arguments with parents and should take legal advice where appropriate

• Manage communications - For repetitive or complex complaints sent to multiple members of staff, establishing a central point of contact for the parent can help to streamline communication and avoid duplication

• Follow policy timescales - AI-generated complaints often assert deadlines without any legal or regulatory grounding. Academies should not respond reactively, instead relying on their own procedures and relevant statutory timelines

Record keeping

With the increase in the volume of AI-generated parental complaints, good record-keeping is imperative. Maintaining a central record of communications allows trusts to:

• Track repetitive allegations

• Identify patterns of behaviour or potentially unacceptable conduct

• Have an audit trail demonstrating that concerns were properly considered and procedures followed, should parents seek to escalate their concerns externally

Signposting parents to Parentkind guidance on school complaints

Although not official government guidance, the Parentkind guidance on managing complaints is supported by the DfE and Ofsted and may be a useful tool to signpost to parents when considering how to use AI and engage with school staff constructively.

While there is nothing to prevent parents from raising complaints which have been prepared with support from AI, academies and trusts must continue to manage complaints appropriately and comply with their legal obligations when doing so even when communications from parents appear to be AI-generated. If uncertain about how to proceed, a legal advisor may be able to support.

For further information or support for your academy trust please contact Hattie Griffin, Solicitor on 0117 314 5440 in our Regulatory Risk and Resolution team.