Minister named in schools sex offender row

The minister who granted approval to a registered sex offender to work in a school has been named.

Kim Howells, who is now a Foreign Office Minister, admitted that he was responsible for the decision to allow Pail Reeve to take up a teaching post at Hewett School in Norwich, despite receiving a police caution for accessing banned images of children on the Internet.

Mr Howells said that he had studied Mr Reeve's file "very carefully" and sought advice about the information contained in it, while he was an Education Minister last May. He said: "They argued that this person did not represent an ongoing threat to children, but that he should be given a grave warning.

"I took that advice and acted accordingly."

Mr Howells said that the decision whether or not to employ Mr Reeve was a matter for his employers, with "all the facts in front of them".

Mr Reeve resigned from his post as a PE teacher at the school after eight days, when police had contacted the school to warn that he posed a risk to children.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly had previously refused to name the minister who made the decision.

Ms Kelly has come under increasing criticism since the revelation was made. She has pledged an "exhaustive review" into the case, as well as any other similar cases that there have been.

She also said that new laws, proposed in the Bichard inquiry into the Soham murders, would be also be tabled in Parliament next month.

Ms Kelly also pledged to establish the "closest possible alignment" between the sex offenders' register and List 99 - the government's list of adults who are banned from working in schools.

Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Edward Davey welcomed Mr Howells' admission. He said: "It is good that one minister has had the courage to come forward, but to restore parents' confidence we need much more than this. The findings and outcome of Ruth Kelly's review will be crucial in restoring confidence for parents, teachers, and the wider public.

"It is clear that this issue affects many parts of government. We now need to hear from the Home Office about their failures to implement the Bichard recommendations."

(KMcA/GB)