Post-graduates training to become secondary school teachers can now expect a £6,000-a-year wage, with an added "golden hello" of £4,000 in shortage subjects.

The Government claims that applications for teacher training have gone up 50 per cent since the salaries were unveiled, although figures on how many are taking up places are not yet available.

A Stockton Borough Council spokeswoman said: "We do have some problems filling vacancies in certain subjects in secondary schools, particularly in maths and information and communications technology. Where we might expect ten people to apply for a job, we only get five."

Martin Fisher, NUT principal officer for the North-East and North Yorkshire, said the problem was caused by a combination of salary levels and the profession being under-valued.

He said: "Teachers are asked to do a very difficult job, in circumstances that are less than ideal, and there are huge workloads. The Government is not addressing the fundamental issues of pay and workload, and that means taking on more teachers."

A shortage of nurses forced Scarborough General Hospital to recruit in the Philippines.

A hospital spokeswoman said: "We have no problem recruiting health care assistants, the problem is getting trained nurses. There has been a lack of foresight about the demand for nurses, and perhaps an unrealistic estimate of how many nurses would stay in the system after they have been trained."

Sandra Bullock, Royal College of Nursing assistant officer for the Northern and Yorkshire region, said the main problem was working conditions.

She said: "The issue is if they get flexible working hours, child care and opportunities to progress - these are the things people value. The Government is doing something about it, but they need to do more, and it is not going to benefit the health service for another three years."A shortage of nurses forced Scarborough General Hospital to recruit in the Philippines.

A hospital spokeswoman said: "We have no problem recruiting health care assistants, the problem is getting trained nurses. There has been a lack of foresight about the demand for nurses, and perhaps an unrealistic estimate of how many nurses would stay in the system after they have been trained."

Sandra Bullock, Royal College of Nursing assistant officer for the Northern and Yorkshire region, said the main problem was working conditions.

She said: "The issue is if they get flexible working hours, child care and opportunities to progress - these are the things people value. The Government is doing something about it, but they need to do more, and it is not going to benefit the health service for another three years."

Falling police numbers has become one of the most sensitive issues for the Government, with an estimated 3,000 fewer officers now than when Labour came to power.

Home Office figures show Cleveland police had 1,404 officers in March, down from 1,416 last year, and, in Durham, the fall was from 1,568 to 1,558. North Yorkshire suffered a larger drop, from 1,337 to 1,283, and in Northumbria numbers went from 3,840 to 3,788.

A Home Office spokesman said they were putting £59m this year into recruiting extra officers and an extra 9,000 officers would be taken on over the next three years. He said: "This is a recognition that we need to invest in policing and not just in police numbers, but also in technology."

A North Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "The force would like more officers and we are getting more, but we have not got the money to recruit as many as we would like."

But Les Coverdale, of the county's Police Federation, said the new recruits were merely replacing those who quit through ill-health or take early retirement