Minister lets unvetted teachers into schools

The Government was forced to make an embarrassing U-turn last night and drop its ban on teachers working if they have not been vetted for criminal records, because of increasing disruption in schools.

Teachers and support staff who have not been cleared by the Criminal Records Bureau will now be allowed to work in schools at the "discretion" of headteachers, Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, announced.

Thousands of pupils have already missed the start of term this week because a backlog of checks. Ms Morris admitted the delays were likely to continue for some time, but said she could not allow the disruption to continue.

She stressed that all staff would still have been checked against List 99, the secret dossier of people convicted or suspected of child abuse. Earlier yesterday, Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the Criminal Justice minister, insisted that local authorities should obey the guidance. But several councils, including Stockport and Gloucestershire, had already said they would reopen classes even if teachers had not been cleared.

Damian Green, the shadow Education Secretary, accused the Government of being inept.