GAELIC high school teachers from foreign countries should be allowed to swerve Brexit immigration barriers to fill Scottish vacancies, UK Government advisers say.

Butchers, bricklayers and welders are also said to be in such short supply in the UK that bosses here should be able to recruit from overseas when EU freedom of movement rules end with Brexit.

That's according to the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC), which has drawn up a list of the workers it says should get special dispensation under the "shortage occupation list".

Medium-skill occupations included on that register will have a minimum salary requirement of £20,480 from January 1, when a new points-based immigration system will come into force.

That's 20% below the £25,600 minimum salary employers will have to pay in order to hire a worker from outwith the UK.

While there's a UK-wide list, others have been made up to take the needs of devolved nations.

Scotland's includes Gaelic secondary school teachers, chemical scientists, housing officers, nursery nurses, childminders and health professionals.

In Northern Ireland, bakers, fishmongers, housing officers and gardeners are in the shortest supply.

Health professionals are the only role listed on the Welsh shortage occupation list.

Other entries on the general roster include archaeologists, web designers, nurses, artists, maths teachers and vets.

The MAC also warned of shortages in frontline social care staff as most roles do not earn enough to be included on the list.

Downing Streets says it will consider the recommendations.

Social workers, engineers and scientists are already on the shortage occupation list.

Gaelic-speaking teachers are amongst Scotland's most sought-after educators.

The addition to the list could prevent similar cases to that of Sine Halfpenny, a Canadian Gaelic speaker who was unable to take up a job in Mull thanks to a knock-back by the Home Office in 2018.

She was the only qualified applicant for the job from anywhere in the world at the time, and Argyll and Bute Council was prepared to sponsor her for the visa.

Announcing the new recommendations, chairman Professor Brian Bell said the pandemic has triggered a "dramatic change" in the labour market. He stated: "The number of migrants coming to work in the UK has already decreased and we are likely to see an increase in unemployment over the next year as the economic impact of the pandemic continues, so this has been a very challenging time to look at the shortage occupation lists.

"It has made us more willing to recommend some roles for inclusion simply because it is the sensible thing to do, but we have been clear that migration is not always the solution."

The MAC also called for a "significant" salary increase to make social care posts more attractive to domestic workers.

But most care posts are not considered skilled and cannot be included on the list.

Bell said: "The problems in terms of workforce in social care are not really about immigration, they are about the fact that wages are very low in that sector, often minimum wage, and that isn't an attractive enough salary to attract resident workers in the UK.

"What needs to happen is there needs to be a better funding model for social care that makes work in that sector better rewarded and that's the right way not only to attract resident workers and not have to rely on migrants but also to deal with things like the turnover of staff in that sector which is very high.

"Part of that is because workers don't feel they are valued appropriately. We think the way you value workers is you pay them better."

Boris Johnson's spokesperson stated: "We have set out that we want employers to focus on investing in the domestic workforce.

"It is worth noting that the Migration Advisory Committee itself is clear that immigration isn't the solution to addressing staff levels in the social care sector."