FIFTEEN child care workers employed by the City of Edinburgh Council have been the subject of complaints over the past two years, writes Chris Holme.

Four were dismissed, three were moved to other duties, and two resigned, an inquiry chaired by Professor Kathleen Marshall, of Glasgow University, was told yesterday.

The inquiry's remit is to establish what lessons need to be learned after the jailing of two care assistants last December for a total of 27 years for abusing children in Lothian children's homes over two decades.

Personnel services manager John Robertson said that of the remaining cases two were still under investigation, and four members of staff had returned to work after the allegations against them were found to be unsubstantiated.

The council employs 285 people at 14 children's homes and other establishments in the city.

Mr Robertson said the council was currently introducing a more rigorous and systematic system for hiring, training and assessing staff working with children, including checks on criminal records.

He said the council's work would be greatly assisted by the introduction of a national child care register covering Scotland. Even so, there were long delays in running criminal record checks on applicants who had worked in England.

Ms Jenny Quinlan, training and employee development manager for the council, said that in dealing with discrimination and equal opportunity policy, there had perhaps been too much emphasis on gender issues rather than on the sexuality of applicants themselves, which was of critical importance in the area of child safety.

The inquiry continues.