UK jobs open to migrants unveiled

The government says it will get tough on firms employing illegal workers

The list of jobs open to immigrants from outside the European Union has been published by the UK government.

Ministers say it will cut by 200,000 the jobs available to non-EU workers.

It includes maths and science teachers and specialist nurses and vets among others, in line with recommendations of an expert panel.

But it also includes 100,000 social workers - a job which the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) originally ruled was not in short supply.

In its report in September, the MAC said there was no evidence from the field that there was a shortage of social workers in the UK.

But the government has ordered the committee to reconsider its verdict after "new evidence" of a shortage had came to light from the social work sector. They must report again in March 2009.

'Population trends'

The shortage occupation list replaces the current work permit system and is a central plank of the government's new points-based migration system, which comes into effect on 27 November.

SHORTAGE JOBS Hospital consultants Vets Scientists Quantity surveyors Specialist nurses Engineers Dancers and choreographers Ship and hovercraft officers Pipe fitters and line repairers Chefs Care assistants Social workers

Immigration minister Phil Woolas claimed it would restrict the number of people coming into the UK to work and allow the government to "raise or lower the bar according to the needs of business and taking population trends into account".

Workers from European Union countries, with the exception of Bulgaria and Romania, will remain free to take any jobs in the UK.

Wealthy investors, or university-educated people earning more than