The government has been condemned for failing to sort out the problems over child protection vetting procedures.

The delays have meant teachers being unable to start work in schools because police checks on their backgrounds have not been completed.

Delays at the Criminal Records Bureau are to blame

The Secondary Heads Association (Sha) said many schools would be forced to put in place "abnormal arrangements" to cope with the fact that many staff will not have received police clearance.

Sha said it had warned months ago that delays at the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) were storing up problems for the future.

The CRB was set up as a "one-stop-shop" to process criminal records probes and checks against government blacklists of people not suitable to work with children - which must be carried out before teachers and support staff can work with children.

'Emergency situation'

General secretary of Sha, John Dunford said: "They under-estimated the number of people coming into schools by a huge factor and the operation was established on the wrong scale."

"That's why they had to have interim measures and that's why we've got an emergency.

John Dunford: The government is to blame

"My estimate is that somewhere between 15,000 and 18,000 schools will start on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

"There has to be more than half a chance in the light of what's happened today that many of those schools will not have had all their checks completed."

Mr Dunford said the blame lay entirely with the government.

"As a result of their failure to heed these warnings a year ago during the setting up of the CRB, we now have an emergency situation this week."

The concerns of Sha were echoed by the National Association of Head Teachers, which warned it would be "touch and go" as to whether the checks would be pushed through in time.

Covering vacancies

The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) said it had raised concerns in May about a backlog of checks building up.

General secretary Eamonn O'Kane said: "We genuinely did think there would be a problem come September."

Eamonn O'Kane: Teachers must not shoulder the responsibility

Mr O'Kane said any suggestions that existing teachers should act as a stop-gap while checks on new staff were completed and cover vacancies was unacceptable.

"We wouldn't accept a situation where teachers have to shoulder a responsibility that lies with government."

The Shadow Education Secretary, Damian Green, also accused the government of ignoring the warnings of potential delays.

'Chaos'

"It did nothing about those warnings until it panicked a few weeks ago after the terrible events in Soham and it hasn't panicked effectively," said Mr Green.

"Looking ahead, the chaos we are seeing in Leicestershire this morning may well be repeated across the country next week and it seems really urgent for the government not to hide behind statements."

Shutting schools because of government incompetence is simply not good enough

Phil Willis, Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat education spokesman, Phil Willis, said: "Of course it is essential that parents are assured that their children are in safe hands when they ensure them to teachers' responsibility each day.

"However, the government must have realised that their pledge to improve the levels of staffing in our schools would lead to an increased demand in vetting applications," said Mr Willis.

"Shutting schools because of government incompetence is simply not good enough."

A spokesman for the Department for Education said child protection was "paramount and non-negotiable".