LABOUR pledged today to tackle mounting teacher recruitment gaps after its research revealed spending on temporary supply educators has doubled in just a year.

Ongoing recruitment and retention issues across the austerity-hit profession have led to schools forking out an additional £431 million on supply teachers — an eye-watering £1.2 billion in total — it said.

Freedom of Information requests show that several local authorities have spent more than £5m plugging staffing gaps in the last 12 months alone, including Tory-run councils in Essex, Hampshire, West Sussex, Leicester and Hertfordshire.