Jenny Gilruth could not rule out further cuts to teacher numbers after the finance secretary told colleagues that she was imposing a halt on "non essential" public spending.

The education secretary told The Herald that teachers are "the most valuable asset" in the education system and she did not want "to take forward anything that harms the number of teachers" in Scotland.

However, asked if she had been given assurances from finance secretary Shona Robison about teacher numbers, Ms Gilruth said she had not spoken to her about the matter.

"I don't want to take forward anything that harms the number of teachers that we have in Scotland. They are the most valuable asset. And of course I would say that as a former teacher," she said.

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Earlier this year Glasgow city council announced they would be reducing teacher number by 450 over the next three years.

Pressed if she could rule out that there would be no more teacher cuts - Ms Gilruth said the Scottish Government had a policy of increasing teacher numbers.

"My approach is working with local authorities to maintain teacher numbers. And it's worthwhile saying we have had an increase since 2018 in thousands of teachers in Scotland's schools.

"So we have increasing teacher numbers as a result of additionality that we put in during Covid first of all and then additionality - that's the £145.5 million that I am protecting for that use," she said.

READ MORE: 'Lack of prudent planning causes SNP emergency spending brake'

She was asked about Glasgow city council's plans to cut teacher numbers by 450 and she pointed out the local authority had not received any of the £145.5 million.

"They won't receive the funding from the Scottish Government if they don't maintain teacher numbers that has been a clear condition of their funding."

The Herald asked if the finance secretary had given her any assurances that teacher numbers won't be cut.

She said: "I am not having that discussion with the finance secretary at the current time. She gave an interview yesterday about the tough decisions the Scottish Government has to take.

"Let's remember these are tough choices foisted on us by a incoming UK Labour Government which is adhering to the spending policies of the outgoing Conservative party and is making our life as a government extraordinary challenging and it does mean there will have to be some really tough choices."

Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for education and skills Liam Kerr said: “The reason Jenny Gilruth can’t give any assurances on further teacher cuts is that she knows the chronic and continued underfunding of local authorities by the SNP Government is forcing councils into difficult decisions with significant consequences.

“Unless and until her government offers a fair funding deal, other councils are likely to find themselves in the same position as SNP-run Glasgow when it comes to teacher redundancies.”

Ms Robison announced a freeze to all 'non essential' public spending in a letter to colleagues earlier this week amid growing financial pressures on the Scottish Government.

This morning she told the BBC "exceptional measures" would have to be put in place - as she confirmed a freeze in public sector recruitment in all but "essential frontline" posts.

The announcement comes as ministers struggle to fund pay demands from across the public sector, with the finance secretary criticising the UK Government for failing to ensure rises for those such as NHS workers and council staff are fully funded.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has required "about a third" of the cash needed to cover such rises to be "funded through departmental cuts", Ms Robison said.

She added that that "has led to the position where we are having to take these exceptional measures in order to constrain spend and create the headroom to manage".

For filling vacancies in the public sector, Ms Robison told BBC Radio Scotland: "We have said essential frontline posts will be able to recruited."

She added the Scottish Government would be "making sure that the controls on recruitment are enhanced to make sure we prioritise only those essential frontline posts".

It comes after the Scottish Government has had to step in and find extra cash for local government workers' pay as it seeks to to avert strike action by refuse staff - with the 4.2% offered to workers to suspend this action more than ministers at Holyrood had budgeted for.

Speaking on the Good Morning Scotland programme, Ms Robison said: "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 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".

The Times reported she instructed 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".

Senior economists including Dr João Sousa, deputy director of the Fraser of Allander Institute at Strathclyde University, previously a key figure at the UK's public spending watchdog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, said a 'lack of prudent' planning by the Scottish Government to anticipate spending on public sector pay rises had led to the crisis.

Ms Gilruth disagreed with the Fraser of Allander's analysis saying the Scottish Government could not have anticipated the impact of former Prime Minister Liz Truss's mini budget which led to soaring inflation and interest rates.

Michael Marra, Scottish Labour's finance spokesperson, said: "This is the week the SNP Government's incompetence caught up with it. Yet after 17 years in power they continue to blame everyone and anyone except themselves.

"Across the last 48 hours independent authorities from The Institute for Fiscal Studies and Fraser of Allander to Audit Scotland have all been scathing of the SNP handling of finance and public services.

"The SNP knew it couldn't keep spending without a plan but ducked the difficult decisions kicking the can down the road again and again.

"The SNP's self-created mess is underlined by the fact that yesterday's Government Revenue and Expenditure figures for Scotland showed that under the Barnett Formula Scots receive £2,417 a head in extra public spending.

"Scots are right to question why, rather than better public services, they are seeing an incompetent, wasteful SNP government attempting damage control as the money runs out."

Willie Rennie, the Scottish Lib Dems education spokesman, said: “On the SNP’s watch, both teachers and prospective teachers feel demoralised and disillusioned.

"Violence is becoming increasingly prominent in schools, support is being stripped out of classrooms and industrial disputes are a regular occurrence.

“If children's education suffers, we will all pay a heavy price in the long-term because Scotland needs the best skills and talent to compete for the best jobs and industries of the future."

“It’s time to stop asking our teachers to perform miracles; we need a real plan to get Scottish education back on track. That’s why Scottish Liberal Democrats would deliver a strategy to tackle poor behaviour in class, proper stable contracts for teachers to depend on and greater in-class support.”