Government u-turn on fingerprinting in school - Mulholland

12.40.18pm GMT Fri 12th Jan 2007

The Government has performed a U-turn and will now issue guidance to schools on the legality of fingerprinting pupils, following pressure from the Liberal Democrats.

Schools have been fingerprinting pupils as young as three, often without parental consent, storing their biometric data for use in electronic registration and library systems, despite concerns over whether it is legal.

The Government previously refused to issue guidance on this contentious matter. But in a response to a letter from Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson, Greg Mulholland MP, Education minister Jim Knight confirmed that the Government will be issuing draft new guidance about fingerprinting in schools.

Commenting, Greg Mulholland said:

"The Government delay in acting on this issue is utterly appalling.

"It's outrageous that Ministers have allowed schools to continue this potentially illegal behaviour for so long without stepping in.

"I'm pleased they have finally caved to pressure from concerned parents and MPs to give clear guidance to schools on whether mums and dads need to be asked before their children are fingerprinted."

Applicability: this item refers to England and Wales. Due to devolution, detailed policy may be different in other areas of the UK.