TRAFFORD schools are feeling the effect of the Criminal Records Bureau's backlog of background checks on potential new staff.

Because the CRB have failed to carry out the necessary checks on staffing time for the start of term, schools across Trafford are currently still waiting for 30 new members of staff to be given clearance.

Trafford council is working with schools and the CRB to get these checks through as quickly as possible.

It is not thought that this delay will cause any major disruptions. Trafford Council is confident that no children will be sent home because of the problem.

Executive director of children and young people's services Chris Pratt said: "The council's first priority is to keep the schools informed of the clearances received from the CRB. None of the schools in Trafford are indicating that children will be asked to stay at home, but this situation will depend on how quickly we get clearances for the 30 from the CRB."

He added: "Any tragic incident such as that at Soham makes you consider what you are doing in respect of employing staff to work with children. Our advice to schools is clear - that they should not deploy staff to work with children who have not been cleared either through the CRB or through previous checking systems."

By law, all staff applying for jobs within schools must go through the CRB's vetting procedure.

The CRB check for a criminal background that would make the employee is unsuitable to work with children and see if the applicant's name appears on List 99, a confidential list of teachers who are currently barred from teaching because of previous misdemeanors.

Once these checks have been completed, a certificate is issued. The applicant should not be deployed to work with children without this.