The Equal Opportunities Minister, Margaret Hodge, announced that £681,350 would be given to 16 local authorities in an attempt to tackle the capital's particular problems with finding teachers.

In the longer term, the minister said that the government's reforms of teachers' pay and conditions would make the profession more attractive, but she said "we recognise that we need to respond to immediate recruitment difficulties".

The funds will pay for local recruitment managers

Schools in the capital have struggled to fill vacancies, particularly in subject areas such as maths, science, modern languages and information technology.

The higher cost of living in London and the belief that inner-city teaching is more demanding have been cited as reasons.

The funds, part of the £130m recruitment package announced in October, will be aimed at hiring "recruitment strategy managers" who will be responsible for "galvanising" local authorities' efforts to recruit teachers.

These strategy managers, working alongside the Teacher Training Agency, will be encouraged to organise local recruitment events and to promote the profession at graduate fairs.

The authorities to receive the funds are:

• Camden
  
• Ealing
  
• Greenwich
  
• Hackney
  
• Hammersmith and Fulham
  
• Haringey
  
• Hillingdon
  
• Hounslow
  
• Islington
  
• Lambeth
  
• Lewisham
  
• Newham
  
• Southwark
  
• Tower Hamlets
  
• Waltham Forest
  
• Wandsworth