Kelly announces review of sex offender vetting

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly has announced an "exhaustive" review of the cases of sex offenders granted permission to work in schools.

Ms Kelly has been heavily criticised after it emerged that a man was allowed to work as a PE teacher, although he had been cautioned by police for accessing child pornography on the Internet.

Paul Reeve was arrested by Norfolk Police as part of the Operation Ore inquiry into child pornography in the UK. Mr Reeve was not convicted, but received a police caution for accessing banned images of children on the Internet.

He was hired by Hewett School in Norwich last month, but resigned after eight days, when police contacted the head teacher, warning that he posed a risk to children.

Mr Reeve had not been placed on List 99, which is the register of people who are banned from working in schools.

Ms Kelly has now admitted that this case was not an isolated incident.

It is believed that a junior minister, not Mrs Kelly, took the decision not to place Mr Reeve's name on List 99.

In a statement, the Education Secretary stressed that the protection of children was a "top priority" for the government. She said: "The case which has come to public attention this week raises very serious issues.

"I take full responsibility for all decisions taken in the department of whether individuals should be placed on List 99.

"Initial inquiries indicate that there have been a small number of cases where ministers have made the decision not to include on List 99 an individual on the sex offenders register. It is of the utmost importance that the House and wider public are not misled by any information put into the public domain.

"I have, therefore, decided to commission as a matter of urgency an exhaustive review of all such cases since the introduction of the sex offenders register, the decision-making process surrounding such cases and any immediate policy implications."

Ms Kelly also said she would also personally consider any cases where a ministerial decision was required to place an individual on List 99 "with immediate effect".

She also pledged to consider how to achieve the "closest possible alignment" between List 99, which is kept at the Department of Education and Skills, and the sex offenders register, as part of the review, as well as examine the role of ministers in the decision-making process.

Conservative Shadow Education Secretary David Willetts called Ms Kelly's statement "extraordinary" and demanded to know how many cases where involved and what the Education Secretary's role had been in the case.

(KMcA)