John Swinney has said he is finally about have “serious conversations” with the UK Government about the challenges facing Scotland following a private meeting with Sir Keir Starmer.
The First Minister met Sir Keir privately before attending the Council of Nations and Regions – a body bringing together devolved leaders and English metro mayors.
Sir Keir Starmer said the intention was to “rewire” the way the UK Government interacts with devolved areas.
However, Mr Swinney said he raised the concerns of council leaders in Scotland who had not been included in the regional investment summit.
It comes as Cammy Day, leader of Labour-led council in Edinburgh, warned Scottish cities would be at a commercial disadvantaged compared to their English counterparts by being excluded.
Former first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf have also voiced concern at snub for councils.
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Criticism was first revealed by Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken, accusing the Prime Minister of “shutting the door” on Scotland’s largest city, while English regions like Peterborough – which has a population of roughly a seventh of Glasgow’s City region – attended.
Mr Swinney told journalists he set out the “critical nature” of investment in public services in Scotland.
He told the Prime Minister the upcoming UK budget must be a “true and full end to austerity if we are to fuel the growth agenda”.
As he became Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer vowed to reset the relations with devolved administrations.
Prior to this, Mr Swinney said: “Frankly, relationships couldn’t have been any worse than they were with the UK Government when he came to office.
“To be fair to the Prime Minister, he has been true to his word.”
Mr Swinney also said the Prime Minister appeared to “understand the significance of the point I’m making to him about public investment”.
“I feel I’ve had a serious conversation today,” he told journalists in St Andrews House following the private meeting.
“And I’ve been around the block of intergovernmental relations for many years.
But asked whether he believed council leaders in Scotland deserved to be at the meeting, he said: “I understand the point that has been made by the Scottish Cities Alliance and by other council leaders in Scotland.”
“I’ve put forward Scotland’s interests but there will be specific issues of individual importance to individual local authority leaders in Scotland which I can understand why they would want to make it in that forum,” he added.
But he said it was ultimately for the Prime Minister to decide who could attend the meeting, despite Mr Swinney putting across the position of council leaders.
Edinburgh’s Labour council leader, Mr Day, signed a letter to the Prime Minister which called for “immediate consideration of parity of representation” for Scottish councils.
The letter added: “We are concerned that our absence from the summit could place Scotland and its cities at an explicit commercial disadvantage to our city peers in England particularly if the government should continue to engage the English city mayors in similar events.”
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In a letter to the Prime Minister, Glasgow SNP MSPs, which includes two former first ministers, said they were "disappointed" the city wasn't included.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir said the Council of the Nations and Regions moved the UK “a long way down the road” towards more jobs and investment.
However, the Prime Minister dodged media questions about his former chief of staff Sue Gray who was appointed as envoy to the nations and regions earlier this week. It was announced she would take a break between jobs and therefore miss the crucial meeting.
Asked about Ms Gray, the Prime Minister instead spoke of the meetings, saying: “For everybody listening and watching this, who’s concerned to know, is there going to be investment in my region? Are there going to be jobs where I live?
“The answer is, today, we’ve got a long way down the road of collaborating to that end.”
Speaking at the outset of the meeting, the Prime Minister told assembled leaders: “This council is a statement of intent on my behalf and on behalf of the Government about the way in which we want to work with all of you.
“I think that is as important as the substance of what we discuss, is how we collaborate, how we work together.
“Because the UK is really strong, we’ve got so much to offer, particularly when it comes to growth and investment, but we are a bit complicated.”
He went on to say the UK should “harness” the different identities in the country, adding he sees facilitating collaboration between them as a “responsibility of this Government”.
Sir Keir said: “There’s a lot of identity and pride of place, which I think should be celebrated. It’s a really powerful feature of the whole United Kingdom, between all its places, nations and ingredients, strong identities that bind people together.
“We should harness that.”
Those around the table, he added, will be “equal voices”, with a view to “solving problems”.
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