Special Scottish cabinet meeting to discuss £1bn budget black hole

A special meeting of the Scottish Cabinet has been called as ministers face a budget black hole of at least £1bn.

BBC Scotland understands the Scottish government is struggling to make its £60bn tax and spending plans work.

It is said to be a collective issue and not a problem of agreeing a deal with Green ministers - who are in a power-sharing agreement with the SNP.

The Scottish Budget is due to be unveiled on 19 December.

It was already confirmed that the proposals would include a council tax freeze.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison also warned that the public sector workforce would need to be cut because of funding pressures.

The Scottish government blamed Westminster's Autumn Statement, saying the Chancellor's spending said to "deliver nothing" for public services in Scotland.

There was speculation that ministers were considering a new tax band for higher earners to raise cash - but BBC Scotland has been told that such reports were "premature".

Thursday evening's meeting will focus solely on the budget and discussions could continue at a further cabinet meeting in Haddington on Monday.

Cabinet ministers previously met on Tuesday. It is rare for more than one such meeting in a week.

The Scottish Conservatives said it was no surprise that ministers "can't square the circle" after they promised the last-minute council tax freeze.

The party said that the SNP should be tackling their own financial irresponsibility.

Social Security Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told BBC Scotland News that the government needed time to look at its options in detail after a "worst possible scenario" Autumn Statement.

Ms Robison, the finance secretary and deputy first minister, said it was one of the most difficult budgets to draw up in the history of the Scottish Parliament.

She told BBC Scotland News the only money provided for public services in the Autumn Statement was £10.8m for the NHS, which she said would only buy about five hours of capacity for the health service.

The minister said the cabinet would have to make "very difficult" decisions due to the "Tory austerity budget at the expense of public services".

The Treasury said the Scottish government would receive £545m in additional funding through the Barnett formula as a result of the Autumn Statement.

Scottish Tory finance spokesperson Liz Smith said she was not surprised by the unscheduled cabinet meeting, claiming "SNP sums are all over the place".

She said that the party was yet to explain how it intended to pay for the Council Tax freeze.

"There is absolutely no answer as to where that money is coming from," the MSP told BBC Scotland News.

A special, evening, unscheduled cabinet meeting to focus entirely on hammering out a budget is certainly out of the ordinary.

"Hard to square the circle", we're told.

It's usually the Greens who come under scrutiny, they've been so critical to getting budgets through for years. But Patrick Harvie doesn't seem to be the sticking point. This is seen as a "collective issue".

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is regarded as the villain of the piece by the SNP for his Autumn Statement.

Government folk are candid - saying this unscheduled meeting does raise awareness of the issue in the media.

Conservatives regard this as a bit of a stunt and point to what they see as poor SNP financial mismanagement and the new council tax freeze. However, they themselves recognise many constituents welcome it in the deep midwinter of this cost of living crisis.

An "unscheduled" meeting it is - firmly scheduled in the diary