A website is being set up to list teachers and others who have been cleared by the Criminal Records Bureau.

The site, peaceofminduk.net, is the idea of a parent, Marie Gildea, who says she is concerned that parents have no way of checking the credentials of a teacher or other carer.

She is inviting teachers to register at �12 a time - 10% of which she says will go to the children's charity Childline.

But teachers are being warned to have nothing to do with the site, which is due to go live on 21 November.

Certificate checks

Ms Gildea said that following the debacle over criminal records checks at the start of term it was being left to the discretion of head teachers whether or not they allowed staff to work without being vetted.

They must check only that new staff are not on the Department for Education's list - List 99 - of people deemed unsuitable to work with children.

The website allows teachers to send in their Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) clearance, known as a disclosure certificate.

Ms Gildea, who has a daughter in secondary school in Luton, Bedfordshire, says she intends to register as one of the organisations that can check whether this certificate is genuine.

Having checked the certificate, the teacher's details will be put on the website along with other information if they wish, such as what qualifications they hold.

'Parents want it'

Other ideas for the site include a facility for teachers to answer questions submitted by parents.

"Teachers seem quite positive about it," Ms Gildea said.

"And it's definitely something parents want."

The Department for Education is advising teachers not to get involved.

"The current system is thorough and extremely effective at preventing unsuitable people from working with children," a spokesperson said.

"No website could ever replace the security of an employer making the proper criminal record checks."

He said the department understood from the CRB that at this point the website was not a registered body and what it was proposing did not appear to comply with the CRB's arrangements for information sharing.

"We would advise teachers not to get involved with it in the unlikely event that it starts to operate."

Union opposition

Unions were approached to endorse the project.

The logo of the support staff union Unison is on the front of the site - but Unison says it is reviewing how that came about.

The second biggest teachers' union, the NASUWT, was also asked for an endorsement and has not only declined but is publicly warning teachers about the site.

Its general secretary, Eamonn O'Kane, said it could do more harm than good.

"I believe that this site is completely unnecessary.

"It could prey on the fears of parents and is likely to put teachers in an invidious position," he said.

'Suspicion'

"Teachers may feel under pressure to pay the �12 fee to sign up if their colleagues have done so.

"They could also feel vulnerable to allegations from parents if they do not."

He said it was understandable that parents were concerned about the welfare and safety of their children but it was the legal duty of employers to check who was a fit and proper person to teach.

"Suggesting parents make these checks themselves could fuel a climate of suspicion and distrust. It would, therefore, do anything but offer peace of mind.

"It appears to us to have the potential for the developers to make money out of fear and insecurity."

Ms Gildea is angry at the suggestion that it is a money-making scheme.

Apart from the donation to charity, she said the �12 fee would simply cover administrative costs of the website, which had cost thousands of pounds to set up through a multimedia company.