Shona Robison has confirmed a public sector recruitment freeze in all but “essential frontline” posts.

The Finance Secretary said the Scottish Government had been forced to take the decision in a bid to find cash for pay demands.

Last week, with the threat of refuse and recycling workers going on strike, leaving bins unemptied, ministers agreed to extra money for councils to allow them to offer a 3.6% increase for all grades, with a rise of £1,292 for the lowest paid, equivalent to 5.63%.

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Speaking to the BBC, Ms Robison she would need to take "exceptional measures" to pay for the hike.

The minister blamed the UK Government.

In a statement to the Commons last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said her government would accept the recommendations of public sector pay review bodies for a 5.5% wage rise.

However, she said a third of the £9.4 billion necessary to fund the hike would come from savings, with government departments told to tighten their belts and stop non-essential spending.

Had the pay deal been paid for by new money, or borrowing then Ms Robison would have had corresponding consequentials for all £9.4bn.

But because only two-thirds is coming from new money, the Scottish finance secretary will have to find her own efficiencies to pay for the remaining third.

Speaking to the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Ms Robison said this had “led to the position where we are having to take these exceptional measures in order to constrain spend and create the headroom to manage”.

The SNP minister said “controls on recruitment” would be “enhanced to make sure we prioritise only those essential frontline posts”.

She added: “To be clear, we are going to have to take some very difficult decisions about what we can afford and what we can’t afford going forward.”

The Finance Secretary has already imposed emergency spending controls across Scottish Government departments, with further spending in 2024-25 said to be only permitted if it is “truly essential or unavoidable”.

In a letter to colleagues, she said additional money could only be spent if “the Scottish Government would otherwise breach its legal obligations or fail to provide essential support to emergency situations or cause significant economic damage across Scotland”.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government confirmed on Wednesday that its replacement for the winter fuel payment would be means-tested.

The decision follows Ms Reeves restricting the annual payout in England and Wales to those on pension credit or certain other benefits as part of her plan to tackle a £22 billion black hole.

According to ministers in Edinburgh that left them with a £160 million funding shortfall.

Winter Fuel Payments were devolved following the Smith Commission, with the new Pension Age Winter Heating Payment (PAWHP) due to be paid out for the first time later this year.

Initially, the plan was to keep it like-for-like, with all those above state pension age eligible for a single annual payment of between £100 and £300 for individuals.

According to the Scottish Government’s own analysis, the change means around 900,000 Scottish pensioners will lose out, with just 130,000 receiving the payment.

Ms Robison told the BBC the decision had been taken “with a very heavy heart”, adding that “we know fuel poverty levels are higher in Scotland and the north of Scotland, in particular, have very cold winters, so it is absolutely the last thing we wanted to do”.

Scottish Liberal Democrat Willie Rennie said Ms Robison had "clearly taken some lessons on financial mismanagement from Liz Truss."

He added: “No matter how much they try to spin it, SNP ministers are taking these decisions because they have had a habit of making costly blunders for almost two decades.

“From blowing the budget on the ferries to selling Scotland’s prize seabed on the cheap, all the SNP can do now is let everyone else clean up after them.

“People need a government that will invest in them, which is why Scottish Liberal Democrats want to get our economy growing so that we can lift up our public services and allow communities across the country to thrive."