British education secretary Ruth Kelly came under increasing pressure today to explain how a registered sex offender was allowed to become a teacher.
Ms Kelly ordered an "exhaustive review" yesterday of cases in which registered sex offenders have not been barred from working in schools after she was accused of a lapse of judgment.
Opposition politicians and parents' groups have condemned the minister for allowing a registered sex offender to be given a job as a physical education teacher after deciding he did not pose a threat.
Ms Kelly will take questions in the House of Commons later today. She has said there were a "small number of cases" in which people on the Sex Offenders Register had not been included on a list that bars them from working in schools.
"I have therefore decided to commission as a matter of urgency an exhaustive review of all such cases since the introduction of the Sex Offenders Register in 1997," she said, adding that she accepted "full responsibility" for decisions taken by her department.
The man in question was placed on the register after receiving a police caution for downloading banned images of children on the Internet. He was later suspended from his job at Hewett School in Norwich on police advice and resigned.
Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman dismissed the Conservatives' call for Ms Kelly resignation, but the shadow education secretary said they needed answers quickly.
"As every day passes, parents' confidence in Ruth Kelly's ability to maintain the integrity of the staff working in schools is ebbing away," David Willetts told BBC radio.