Written question asked by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Thursday, 26 January 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 30 January 2006. It was answered by Ruth Kelly (Labour) on Monday, 27 February 2006 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Child Protection

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether anyone included on the list kept under section 1 of the Protection of Children Act 1999 is teaching in schools.

Answer: The Protection of Children Act (PoCA) 1999 ensures that any individual included on the Protection of Children Act List is also fully barred from working in a child care position in an educational institution. The individual's name will also be included on List 99, the list maintained by the Department which prevents individuals from carrying out work to which Section 142 of the Education Act 2002 applies. Any individual who is included on List 99, on grounds of unsuitability to work with children, or the PoCA List (other than provisionally) is also disqualified from working with children in a regulated position (as defined in section 36 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act, including work in an educational institution) pursuant to section 35 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000.Although employment decisions are matters for individual employers, under section 142(8) and section 143(1) of the Education Act 2002 a relevant employer should not use the services of a person who is subject to direction under section 142 to carry out work in contravention of that direction.

Secondary information