Swinney warned ‘significant’ spending cuts needed

Scottish Labour MSP Michael Marra asked the permanent secretary if he had communicated to Mr Swinney there would need to be “significant spending reductions” as the first minister lays out his vision for the country.

Mr Marks replied that he had “already done that” and that it was a “risk” that needed to be “carefully addressed”.

He added: “I have been very open that I consider fiscal sustainability to be a significant risk that needs active mitigation now, and that has been under way through 2022-23 with the emergency budget review, through 23-24 as well where we used a set of very significant set of controls to reduce our outturn.”

The permanent secretary pointed to high inflation, backlogs caused by the pandemic and a real terms fall in the capital block grant, meaning the “right choices” had to be taken to balance the budget.

A spokesman for the first minister later said: “I don’t think it’s a secret that we’re under significant pressure.

“The first minister himself has said that in the chamber – that’s obviously been a reality for some time. We’ve had 14 years of austerity, that’s the way it is.

“Obviously inflation and other issues in the economy are causing problems.”