Soham: Headteachers seek review of vetting school employees

As police continue searching, questions are being asked about procedures to check backgrounds of those who work with children

Headteachers called for a review of vetting procedures for potential employees yes-terday after concerns were raised about checks made at schools linked to Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the Government must give chief constables firmer guidance on what kind of information they should pass on to schools.

He said at present it was up to the discretion of individual chief constables whether they should pass on criminal charges that either failed to lead to a prosecution or where the accused was not guilty.

Mr Hart said: "I think it's belt and braces time. There have just been so many cases of people slipping through the net. The interests of the children have to be weighed against the rights of the individual but I think it is important to protect the children.

"I believe this is a live issue that the Government must deal with in the aftermath of what has happened in Soham."

Mr Hart admitted the area was a "minefield" but added: "I think our members will want as much disclosure as possible in future." He told of one headteacher he had represented who had faced an allegation of child abuse which never came to court. Each time he applied for another job the chief constable of the county passed on information about the accusation to potential employers, with the result he failed to get the jobs he had applied for.

Mr Hart said: "On the one hand, if a teacher or member of the school support staff is entirely cleared of an allegation of child abuse and the chief constable passes that information on, I can see that it could be a gross injustice.

"On the other hand, a head would have to be pretty desperate to fill a vacancy if they took someone on in the knowledge that a serious allegation had been made about them.

But officials at the Department of Education said they were satisfied with the checks made on the two suspects in the Soham case.

They said they had asked Cambridgeshire County Council for details of the checks they made on the two suspects and had been satisfied that the appropriate inquiries had been made. They stressed that there was no national review of vetting procedures being done.

TimePlan, one of the country's largest teacher supply agencies, announced it was writing to David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, to urge a review of procedures.

Yesterday forensic science officers removed undisclosed items from the home of Ian Huntley's father and were examining the drains.

Mr Huntley, who was charged last night with the murder of Jessica and Holly, was arrested at the house in the village of Littleport, Ely, Cambridgeshire on Saturday. Police were also searching the roof and high hedges surrounding the property, 10 miles from Soham.

Examination of the bodies of the two girls discovered by a gamekeeper in woods near RAF Lakenheath also continued, but the condition of the 10-year-olds has prevented a formal identification, and the pathologist not yet been able to discover how the girls died. Jessica and Holly's parents have been kept informed of developments and are gradually being told the more upsetting details.

Officers were continuing to examine the Soham secondary school, where Mr Huntley, 28, was a caretaker, and where he shared a home with his girlfriend and fellow suspect, Maxine Carr. The nearby primary school where Ms Carr, 25, worked as a classroom assistant, also underwent further searches. Police say they have made "significant" finds in the school grounds.

* A man from Wrexham was arrested yesterday over allegations that he phoned police claiming to have abducted Holly and Jessica. The man, who has not been named, was questioned about three calls from someone claiming to have abducted the girls. He was released on police bail.