Urbane not just to teaching, but to Gatto's whole thesis I thought... Basically this person who has it appears some sexual attraction to children was cleared by the 'home office' and given a letter to give to his School employers saying he was 'ok' to employ. I'll leave you to make your own minds up on the issue:

From: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/13012006/325/howells-says-cleared-sex-row-teacher.html


Quote:
"LONDON (Reuters) - Kim Howells said on Thursday he cleared a registered sex offender to work as a teacher after seeking official advice in a case which has sparked criticism of Tony Blair's Labour administration.

Howells said he had acted in good faith when he approved a file which argued that the man, who had been cautioned by police for viewing child pornography on the Internet, posed no risk.


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"I read ... (the) file very carefully and sought advice about the facts contained in the file," said Howells, a former education minister who now works at the Foreign Office.
"They argued that this person did not represent an ongoing threat to children but that he should be given a grave warning."

His statement came after opposition members of parliament and newspapers pressed the government to name the minister who made the decision.

Education Secretary Ruth Kelly and her department have been heavily criticised by parents' groups and opposition politicians over the decision.

Kelly said on Thursday she would tighten Britain's child protection laws.

"We have some of the toughest sex offender laws in Europe," she told parliament. "(But) I fully understand the concern that this has caused, and I am determined to do something about it," she said.

"I have therefore commissioned as a matter of urgency an exhaustive review of all such cases since the introduction of the Sex Offenders Register in 1997 in order to confirm the precise number of these individuals."

Kelly said the so-called List 99, of the names of those barred from working in schools, had been tightened in recent years.

However, some people on the registered sex offender list -- such as those who were cautioned by police rather than prosecuted -- were not automatically put on List 99 and in such cases a minister had to decide whether the person was a risk.

The Conservative Party said Kelly should resign and asked how many sex offenders were working in schools.

"Parents' confidence in Ruth Kelly's ability to maintain the integrity of the staff working in schools is ebbing away," Conservative education spokesman David Willetts said.

A spokesman for Blair said Kelly had Downing Street's full support.

"It is better to deal with the policy issue rather than turn it into some kind of blame game," said the spokesman.

The subject of child protection laws is an emotive one in Britain after the murders in 2002 of two 10-year-old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, by Ian Huntley, who worked at their school despite being a suspected sex offender.

Police checks had failed to reveal his background."

End quote.

You aren't surprise are you Sid? We live in small town Alberta and all they do here is move the creeps to a different school :-(

Final outcome?:

From: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/19012006/325/kelly-bans-sex-offenders-schools.html

Kelly bans sex offenders from schools Thursday January 19, 05:48 PM

LONDON (Reuters) - Education Secretary Ruth Kelly said on Thursday she would ban anyone from working with children who was either convicted or cautioned for a sexual offence against a child.

Kelly told the House of Commons that ministers would no longer have discretionary powers to allow former sexual offenders to teach and that an independent panel would be responsible for a single list of banned

individuals.
Kelly has been under intense pressure to revamp the vetting of teachers following revelations that her department had allowed a number of sex offenders to work in schools.

"I have decided the most effective approach is to bar from working with children all those who are now convicted or cautioned for any sexual offence against a child, whether the individual is on the Sex Offenders Register or not," Kelly told the House of Commons.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair said he thought Kelly's statement was "excellent".

She said a review had found ten cases since 1997 where ministers had decided not to put registered sex offenders on the Department of Education's so-called List 99 of those barred from teaching.

Subsequent checks had revealed that none were working in a school or regarded by police as posing any risk.

Officials had found a further 46 individuals not put on List 99 since 1997 who had committed offences before introduction of the sexual offenders register.

Some 32 of these were not working with children. One was working in education but police had decided the individual was not a cause of concern. In the remaining 13 cases preliminary checks also suggested there was no cause for concern.

"I deeply regret the worry and concern that has been caused to parents over the last few days. I'm determined to do all I can to ease their concerns," Kelly said.

"It is time to overhaul the system. We need a system where child protection comes first above all other considerations."

Kelly said she would make it mandatory for schools to check all new staff against details held at the Criminal Records Bureau.

A panel of independent experts will be appointed to oversee the vetting of teachers and ministers would lose the power to make discretionary decisions about allowing individuals to teach.

Kelly also announced that legislation next month would combine List 99 and a separate list maintained under the Protection of Children Act into a single register of those barred from working with children.

SCHOOL REFORMS

Blair has given his full support to Kelly. But her job had already come under scrutiny over her failure to persuade Labour MPs to back the government's school reforms.

"Parents can be reassured that we have tightened the system consistently since 1997," he said.

"We have equally now tightened the system further."

Chris Keates, general secretary of NASUWT, the largest union representing teachers and head teachers, welcomed the statement as a "measured approach to this highly complex issue".

"There was a real danger that the recent public furore could have resulted in the Government succumbing to pressure to turn back the clock on the real progress made to secure a more balanced approach to these issues," he said.

Conservative education spokesman David Willetts welcomed the new controls over sex offenders, but said the affair had exposed an absence of "strong leadership" at Kelly's department and suggested she would struggle to regain parents' confidence.

The political storm began when it was revealed that a former education minister had ruled that a man who had been cautioned by police for viewing Internet child pornography posed no risk, allowing him to get a teaching job.

End Quote.

You would "think" that schools would check~out incoming teachers , criminal records , even driving records for that matter.

When our oldest started school, the principal would go to his car and drink booze. Scary isn't it , to think of WHO is supposedly caring for our
children He was an old fella (drunk), retired the year our big boy started Kindergarten thank goodness.

Let's hope that you Brits keep your department of ed on their toes. Children ARE thee future.

I'd write more but the subject of child abuse is sickening.

Anyhoo, thanks for the update Sid.

Bobby aka Oma who's thankful daily for homescholaring.