SNP ministers have been told they will need to restore “trust and good faith” with the Scottish Greens is they are to back their crunch budget later this year.

The Scottish Greens have warned SNP ministers must restore "trust and good faith" with their former partners if they are to strike a budget deal after being kicked out of government six months ago.

John Swinney’s government needs the support of opposition MSPs in order to pass its annual budget.

The Scottish Greens have supported every SNP budget since 2016 but were left angered when Humza Yousaf kicked the party out of government.

The Greens have raised the possibility of once again reaching out to SNP ministers and have claimed victory over forcing a rethink from the Scottish Government over a vow to fund free bus travel for asylum seekers.

But the party has now issued a stark warning that trust will need to be restored from the SNP if a deal is to be brokered.

The caution from Greens finance spokesperson, Ross Greer, came as MSPs backed his motion calling for the Scottish Government to “explore all avenues to fiscal sustainability”, including “seeking opportunities for further powers” such as handing local councils more revenues streams such as the tourist tax, a cruise ship levy or workplace parking levy.

His motion also called for “exploring how a carbon emission land tax” could also be delivered.

But an agreed amendment by SNP Finance Secretary Shona Robison added that the Labour UK government should also “scrap the fiscal rules” it is mirroring from the former Tory administration at Westminster.

Highlighting the upcoming budget discussions, Mr Greer told MSPs that “cooperation and compromise will be required”.

He added: “It is a greater challenge today because Scotland is in a financial crisis.

“The current balance of tax, spend and the block grant is not sustainable.”

Mr Greer stressed the Greens are “proud of our previous budget agreements”.

But he added: “The challenge for the Scottish Government this year won't just be on specific proposals but being able to provide trust and good faith to any other party in this parliament they need to deal with that what is actually agreed in the budget will actually be delivered.

“Agreement is possible - the challenge is for the Scottish Government to prove that they are able and willing to deliver it.”

Ms Robison admitted the Scottish Government needs “a wider range of fiscal tools to manage our budget”, and said she was “very keen” to devolve greater powers to local government.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison (Picture: Lisa Ferguson)

But the Finance Secretary stressed the UK government needed to move away from the fiscal rules used by the previous Tory administration.

She said: “We want to see new fiscal rules that enable greater investment to support public services.

“I want to work with the UK government to address these challenges and put out public finances onto a more sustainable footing.”

But Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser branded the Green proposals “nonsense”, claiming the party was “fundamentally hostile to economic growth and wealth creation”.

He added: “What the Scottish Government should be doing is not introducing new taxes, not widening the tax gap with the rest of the UK, by going in the opposite direction and ignore the fiscal illiteracy proposed by the Scottish Greens.

Scottish Tory MSP Murdo Fraser | Contributed

“Instead, they should use their extensive and generous fiscal powers to deliver a budget later this year that will prioritise economic growth and reduce the tax gap with the rest of the United Kingdom.

“That won’t be a budget that the Greens will like. But it is a budget that the rest of Scotland will be thankful for.”

The potential for the Greens to support the Scottish Government’s budget came as the now-former coalition partners claimed victory in forcing the SNP into a u-turn over free bus travel for asylum seekers.

Last year, Mr Yousaf had pledged to spend £2m to fund the policy, but Mr Swinney announced in August that the policy would not proceed due to a lack of funding.

But it has now emerged that the £2m was never allocated in the first place - with Labour MSP Paul O’Kane accusing the Scottish Government of “false promises” and “a betrayal of the asylum seekers they pledged to help”.

Greens co-leader, Patrick Harvie, said the SNP reneging on their promise will have a “profound impact” on some of the most vulnerable people in Scotland, adding the move “should appal” the public.

SNP Transport Secretary, Fiona Hyslop, admitted that the previous promise from her government “has the potential to be transformative” to those seeking asylum who are banned from working and some living off just £1.38 a day.

Transport Secretary Fiona Hyslop (Photo by Lisa Ferguson/The Scotsman)

She said: “This government remains absolutely committed to exploring how to extend free bus travel to all people seeking asylum before the end of the current parliamentary session.”

But she warned MSPs not to “under-estimate the financial pressures that this government is under”.

The Scottish Refugee Council’s head of policy, communications and communities Gary Christie, said the Scottish Government failing to keep its commitment meant “people seeking asylum have been let down”.

He added: “Banned from working and living on as little as £1.36 a day, access to public transport would mean no longer having to choose between buying food or travelling to a doctor’s appointment.

"The Scottish Government’s commitment to extend a free bus travel scheme to all people seeking asylum offered hope to people living in abject poverty.

“Today’s recommitment to a pilot in the Scottish Parliament is welcome, but if ministers truly intend to deliver on their promise, people seeking asylum need urgent clarity on exactly when and how they plan to move forward.”

The Greens’ transport spokesperson, Mark Ruskell, said that following the “u-turn” from SNP ministers, “a plan of action must follow to lay out the schedule before the end of the current parliamentary session, as well as ensuring the funding is allocated and guaranteed”.

Greens warn SNP must restore 'trust and good faith' if budget deal to be struck

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