A number of local authorities in southern England are struggling to complete criminal record checks on teachers after evidence was lost or not recorded.
Local authorities and schools were told to redo their Criminal RecordsBureau checks last year after Ofsted found that some of the evidence hadbeen lost or had never been recorded in the first place.
Local authorities had a deadline of 1 April but it has now emerged thata number of teachers in the south of England, thought to be as many as3,500, are still waiting to be cleared.
NSPCC policy adviser Emily Arkell said: "It is essential that recordsare kept up-to-date so that there is transparency about when schoolstaff have been checked."
