SCOTLAND is now ready to take its initial share of the first number of additional Syrian refugees, who could arrive in Britain as early as this week, Nicola Sturgeon has made clear.

But following a private meeting in Whitehall with Philip Hammond, the Foreign Secretary, the First Minister admitted there was “still no real clarity” about precisely when the new refugees would arrive, in what numbers and where they would be accommodated.

Ms Sturgeon said it was “possible” that the first additional refugees could arrive in the UK this week but this was likely to involve small numbers; in “the tens” rather than in the hundreds. 

“We don’t have absolute certainty,” admitted the FM. “My best guess is that between now and the end of this year you would be looking at the low hundreds as opposed to thousands.

“We have not been told there are refugees heading to Scotland this week. Now, that may change and it may change very quickly, which is why we are getting on making sure we have the ability to respond to that if it does happen,” she explained; a meeting of the Scottish taskforce on refugees will meet today.

Asked how quickly the Scottish authorities could accept more refugees, the FM replied: “We could take some immediately.”

She described her meeting with Mr Hammond as “useful”, which, from her viewpoint, set out the Holyrood Government’s “determination and willingness to play a full part in an appropriate UK response”.

David Cameron has announced that, during the next five years, Britain will take up to 20,000 additional asylum-seekers, which is calculated to mean that Scotland will take around 2000. 

Ms Sturgeon has made clear an acceptance of 1000 refugees north of the border should only be considered as Scotland’s first response to the crisis, suggesting a larger “proportionate share” would be accepted in the months and years ahead.

Since the civil war began in Syria in 2011, Britain has taken in almost 5000 Syrian refugees but has come in for criticism for accepting only around 200 under the current United Nations vulnerable persons’ relocation programme.

The FM said at the Whitehall meeting she pressed for clarity from the UK Government about the numbers and the timescale and would continue to do so because this would help Scottish authorities make practical preparations for the arrival of the refugees in Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon made clear that her government’s view that the UK, as well as taking refugees from camps in Syria, should also be willing to play a part in resettling those who had already made their way to Europe.

She accepted the UK Government took a different view on this but stressed her administration would continue to make that case. 

“At the moment, what we want to do is to work with the UK Government to make sure that those who will be coming through the vulnerable persons’ relocation scheme, coming from the camps around Syria, that we are ready and able to properly look after these people,” explained the FM.

She argued that not one country could deal with such a huge humanitarian crisis because its scale was too enormous. “But if all countries across Europe come together and put forward a collective response, then it’s just possible we might be able do something that’s commensurate to the scale of the issue.” 

The refugee crisis will dominate the European political agenda this week as today the PM holds talks with President Hollande over dinner at his country residence of Chequers and Home Secretary Theresa May will attend the EU’s home affairs council, which will look at the pan-European response to the refugee crisis.

Tomorrow, Mr Cameron will attend a special EU summit on the subject in Brussels while Mr Hammond will be in the Belgian and French capitals this week also to discuss the refugee issue with his counterparts.

The PM’s spokeswoman stressed how Mr Cameron wanted a “comprehensive approach” to the crisis and would raise what more the EU could do in his talks with President Hollande and the other European heads of government this week.