Teacher recruitment drive 'too late'

London councils are to get millions in extra funding in a Government bid to prevent schools implementing a four-day week.

But head teachers said the money - £44 million across the country, available from April - was "too little too late" and said schools were braced for staff shortages after Christmas.

Predictions of reduced timetables when the capital's schools returned after the summer break were not borne out, largely because of the number of foreign supply teachers shipped in to plug the gaps. This is despite nearly 900 vacancies at the end of summer term.

Also, civil servants in a special Whitehall unit disclosed by the Evening Standard have been working hard behind the scenes, intervening to help local education authorities and heads head off staffing crises. But ministers know that supply agencies are now stretched and that the most difficult period lies ahead.

Education minister Stephen Timms is due to announce that the £44 million will be available to education authorities from April, enabling schools to recruit new staff and provide pay incentives.