RUTH KELLY was under intense pressure yesterday to justify a decision to allow a teacher who had been placed on the sex offenders register to continue to work in schools.

Paul Reeve began a job as a PE teacher at the Hewett School in Norwich last month despite receiving a police caution for accessing paedophile websites. He had disclosed his status as a sex offender to the school, but it was told that Ms Kelly, the Education Secretary, had ruled that Mr Reeve should not be placed on List 99, the blacklist of people who are barred from working with children.

The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) said that “after careful consideration of all the relevant facts” the Secretary of State had concluded that the teacher “was not unsuitable for working with children”.

Sir Michael Bichard, who led the inquiry into the murders of the Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, told The Times that there would have to be exceptional reasons for not banning someone in such circumstances.

Sir Michael’s report called for more stringent vetting procedures after investigating how Ian Huntley, who murdered the girls in 2002, had secured a job as a caretaker at their school despite allegations of rape and sex with under-age girls. The report also gave warning of the risks of having separate lists of people who were considered a danger to children and those unsuitable to work in schools.

Tom Samain, the head teacher of the Hewett School, said yesterday that the school had followed national guidelines for making safe appointments that had been renewed after the deaths of the girls in Soham. He said: “Assuming that the national guidelines had been applied with the full involvement of the police, I did not have any concerns, otherwise I would not have allowed him into the school. But when I was informed on December 15 that the local police had not been consulted, I felt it was necessary to suspend the teacher pending further discussions.”

Sir Michael, a former Permanent Secretary at the DfES, said: “The Secretary of State presumably had a full report on the circumstances and made the decision in the light of all the facts before her.”

John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of College and School Leaders, said: “The Secretary of State has got to clarify the circumstances in which the DfES would not act on a referral of this sort.”

Alison King, chairman of the children and young people’s board of the Local Government Association, said: “I can’t recall another situation like this in seven years in local government.” Ms King, who is leader of Norfolk County Council, said that the authority had referred the case to the DfES in October 2003 for a List 99 determination. It had taken 19 months before the Education Secretary rendered a decision in May last year.

Ms Kelly has departmental responsibility for the decision to place teachers on List 99 for misconduct. But The Times has learnt that she may never have seen the details of Mr Reeve’s case. Responsibility for teacher misconduct cases is delegated to the School Standards Minister.

It was unclear yesterday whether Mr Reeve’s case was decided by the incumbent, Jacqui Smith, or by her predecessor, Stephen Twigg, who acknowledged that he may have been responsible for approving the recommendation. He said: “There were a few cases where I firmed up the decision, but I never went for an option that was less than what officials were recommending.”

SCHOOL RULES

The Secretary of State can ban someone from teaching with “adequate evidence to substantiate the alleged misconduct”

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