The Scottish LibDems are considering abstaining on the budget in a move which could allow the government's financial plans to pass, The Herald on Sunday can reveal.

Talks have been ongoing between Scottish Government and Alex Cole-Hamilton's party with its demands including more money for long Covid and for mental health support.

It is understood civil servants are working out the costs of the some of the LibDems' policy proposals with a meeting expected between the government and the party at the start of next month.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison is due to unveil her draft Budget on December 4 with the Bill to be voted on later.

“One option is that we abstain. It depends how much they offer for our policy demands,” said a source.

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During his speech to his party conference last weekend Mr Cole-Hamilton drew attention to the potential leverage the LibDems have over the minority SNP government's Budget plans as he listed a range of priorities including addressing cuts to the mental health budget and actions to reduce drug deaths.

"The coming Scottish Budget could make a difference to all of this," he said.

“In a Parliament of minorities, we will always act like grown-ups and seek consensus where we can. It’s why each year we engage in meaningful talks with the government to try to find common ground and improve the lot of our communities in the pages of the budget.

“I want to see a spending plan that actually works for the people we serve. But we are a long way from that and they will have to move mountains to persuade us. Because we know how badly broken things are."

The Scottish Government could face trouble passing its Budget Bill early with the Scottish Greens – a previously reliable partner in passing the essential legislation – appearing reticent to back minsters’ plans.

The relationship between the Greens and the SNP has become increasingly fraught since the coalition deal between the two collapsed earlier this year, with Green co-leader Lorna Slater saying in September cuts to her party’s priorities would make it hard for it to back the budget.

“We’re prepared to walk away, of course we are,” Mr Cole-Hamilton told the UK's LibDem conference in September.

“We have done before, but we’ve also supported budgets in the past, we did just before the Scottish election in 2021.

“But like I say, we’re a long way from that where there is a massive gulf between what the SNP have stated in terms of earmarked priorities and what they’re prepared to cut.”

In an interview earlier this month with The Herald Mr Cole-Hamilton set out his red lines and said he could not "see any circumstance" his party would support a Scottish budget with any spending on independence or if it included progressing the National Care Service Bill.

The latter hurdle would appear to have been removed after the Scottish Government announced last week that the first part of the National Care Service (Scotland) Bill, which would form a new centralised care service, was to be dropped though they will press ahead with ​p​arts two and three relating to care home visits and inspections.

Following the collapse of the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and the Greens, ministers have been seeking to find some consensus with opposition parties in order to get their Budget passed.

Failure to pass a Budget could set off a chain reaction which would lead to an early Holyrood election.

It was reported earlier this month that SNP ministers were suggesting the LibDems should back the Budget in return for a £140 million ferries deal.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "The Scottish Government is working to prioritise our resources in line with the First Minister's priorities of ending child poverty, growing the economy, investing in public services, and supporting the path to net zero.

“Ministers are committed to building as broad support as possible across Parliament in order to deliver the forthcoming budget. Engagement with all parties is ongoing ahead of the draft Budget being set out in the Scottish Parliament on December 4.”