Kate Forbes

Speaking ahead of the publication of the Resource Spending Review, Ms Forbes said more focused government and public sector funds would achieve ambitions to tackle child poverty, reach net zero and deliver sustainable services for the future.

The Spending Review, which is not a budget, will give broad parameters for spending for the next four years and set out a series of government reforms.

Finance secretary Kate Forbes said: “These are challenging times, and we need to be canny with our spending, but I’m confident that if we work together we can get through this cost of living crisis and still achieve our ambitions.

“That means tackling child poverty, driving our economic recovery from COVID and achieving net-zero, while building a stronger public sector that is sustainable for the future.”

She added: “We face a very difficult financial position over the next few years with funding increases below inflation levels and the challenge of recovering from the pandemic without the financial tools available to every other government in the world. That means while the spending review is not a budget, it will include difficult decisions, to ensure we can really focus on supporting households and services at this time.

“The Resource Spending Review will detail the funding available over the coming years to achieve these goals, and it will be published alongside the Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which gives economic context to the challenges and opportunities which lie ahead.”