THE scrapping of tough Government targets to cut the number of school exclusions has allowed headteachers to expel pupils without the fear of their decision being overturned, union leaders said yesterday.

The unions spoke out as figures revealed that the number of permanent exclusions in England had increased by four per cent, up from 9,135 in 2000-2001 to 9,540 in 2001-2002.

The figures, released by the Department for Education and Skills, showed that in the North-East and North Yorkshire the number of expulsions had increased from 530 to 539.

At the same time, more parents in the country appealed against expulsions last year compared with the year before, but the proportion that were successful fell from 32 per cent to 24 per cent.

The figures are still down on the figures of 1996-1997 when expulsion rates were 12,668.

The Government ordered headteachers to reduce the number of expulsions by a third by last September, but after almost achieving that figure, the targets were scrapped.

John Heslop, regional officer for the National Association of Headteachers (NAHT), said: "No headteacher takes the decision to exclude someone lightly. But the targets meant heads were reluctant to go through the procedure for fear of them ending up with egg on their face and the pupil ending up back in school.

"Because those artificial targets are not there any more, it means that they can use their professional judgement and there is less chance of those judgements being overturned."

Yesterday's figures showed that boys accounted for more than eight out of ten expulsions and pupils of black Caribbean origin had the highest permanent exclusion rate by ethnic group.

Keith Cotgrave, headteacher of Bishop Barrington School in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, said the Government's targets had never altered his decision to exclude pupils.

He said: "The education of a majority of children can be wrecked by a small minority. I've never had a problem with excluding children as a last resort because a headteacher needs to secure the health and safety of all pupils at the school."