Mr Swinney warned cuts to public spending by Westminster could have “severe knock-on impacts on the Scottish budget” as he called on the UK Government to find additional cash for Holyrood.

The acting finance secretary’s other priorities were listed as increasing social security benefits in line with inflation in the new financial year, with an immediate and permanent £25 uplift to Universal Credit, along with a reversal of the two-child limit and benefits cap and introducing an enhanced windfall tax.

The Scottish Government wants its budget for 2022/23 to be increased in line with inflation, saying this will help fund both public services and pay rises for those providing them. Mr Swinney is due to set out the budget next week, in the wake of tomorrow’s autumn statement from Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

“The prospects for next year and beyond are very concerning,” Mr Swinney said. “Reductions in UK departmental spending on the scale that is being trailed would have severe knock-on impacts on the Scottish budget and our public services.

“It is vital that the Chancellor takes steps to ensure that people are supported, public services are protected and devolved governments have the funding to deliver for the communities we serve.”

Mr Hunt is looking to find up to £60 billion from a combination of hikes and spending cuts, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak making clear his Government will take the “difficult decisions that are required to fix” issues caused by his predecessor in No. 10, Liz Truss.

Mr Swinney insisted: “The UK Government must not repeat the mistakes of the past. Scotland has already suffered a decade of UK Government imposed austerity, which has disproportionately hurt the poorest and most vulnerable in society – it does not work and will inflict misery on people, put pressure on our public services and hamper our economy.”

Mr Sunak has meanwhile claimed the pay deal sought by the nursing union was “unaffordable” as Labour warned the UK would finish last out of 38 advanced OECD economies.

The Prime Minister acknowledged people were struggling with the rising cost of living, but said it was not possible to deliver demands for a 17 per cent pay rise from the Royal College of Nursing,. The union has announced members will strike across the UK, including in Scotland, before the end of the year.

Mr Sunak’s intervention came as Labour attacked the UK Government’s growth strategy, warning the country was trailing behind because of “Conservative failure”.

Speaking in Bali, Mr Sunak told ITV News: “We have enormous gratitude for our nurses, and indeed all the other workers in the NHS, for what they do and have done for us over the past couple of years.

“But what the unions are asking for is a 17 per cent pay rise, and I think most people watching will understand that that’s unaffordable and the way we deal with these situations – because of course, it’s difficult and of course people are struggling – is that we have an independent body make recommendations to the Government about what a fair settlement is.”

Attending the G20 in Indonesia, the Prime Minister said the recommendations of the independent body had been accepted, meaning a rise worth about £1,400 for a typical nurse.

He said: “Ultimately, this money is coming from taxpayers, from everybody watching, and everyone watching will also know that they’re suffering rising bills, they’ll be having those conversations with their own employers about what’s affordable in these difficult circumstances.”

The tightening of the public purse comes ahead of tomorrow’s autumn statement, though unlike a budget it will not see the same level of debate in the Commons, instead presented as a statement.

Holding a debate on Tory management of the economy in the Commons, shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves warned of a decrease in real wages and “more stealth taxes on working people”.

She said: “Today’s numbers show that real wages are down £1,000 a year. The Chancellor himself has admitted that the NHS is on the brink of collapse and is preparing for more stealth taxes on working people later this week.

“Getting our economy firing on all cylinders is essential for fixing this mess. So will the Chancellor tell the House where the UK is projected to finish in terms of OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] growth rates over the next two years?”

Mr Hunt replied: “I’m very happy to tell her about the international situation – inflation higher in Germany, the Netherlands, the Eurozone and Italy. Our growth forecasts are falling less than the forecasts in Germany.

“Interest rates since the pandemic have gone up less here than America, than Canada and New Zealand. Despite what some suggest, the recession has not been restricted to the UK, nor did it begin here.

“Not my words, but the words of Alistair Darling in 2010. If she [Ms Reeves] wants to be the next chancellor, she should listen to the last Labour chancellor.”

Ms Reeves said: “It would nice if the Chancellor tried to answer some of the questions. Out of 38 advanced OECD economies, the UK is forecast to finish last. That is 38th out of 38. Now all industrialised economies have had to face Covid and the consequences of Russia’s illegal war.

“Yet our country is trailing behind because of Conservative choices and Conservative failure. There is an alternative, so why doesn’t the Chancellor match Labour’s ambitions for British industries in hydrogen, insulation, carbon capture, solar, nuclear and wind power to create new jobs here in Britain?”

The Chancellor accused Labour of being “selective” with its statistics, claiming the UK has the third highest growth rate in the G7 since 2010.

The SNP has separately warned Mr Hunt to “deliver help for all those who need it" at the UK budget.

SNP shadow chancellor Alison Thewliss challenged the Chancellor to ensure middle and low-income families are properly protected with energy bill support and a mortgage crisis fund to stop families defaulting or falling into unsustainable debt.

She said: "The Tories have trashed the UK economy with Brexit and 12 years of mismanagement – and millions of families are paying an increasingly painful price.

"There is no doubt that those on the lowest incomes must get the most support at the UK budget, but the Tories must deliver help for all those who need it not abandon those families and householders who are also struggling to get by.

"The Tory economic crisis has seen mortgage costs soar, energy bills double, and prices in the shops go through the roof, leaving family homes and incomes under threat.

"The SNP is clear the Chancellor must help those on the lowest incomes by increasing benefits and pensions with inflation, introducing a Real Living Wage, and following Scotland's lead by matching the £25 a week Scottish Child Payment UK-wide.”

Mr Hunt stressed in response “the energy price support that we give to families will not end from next April”.

Elsewhere, gas and electricity bill rises in October are expected to send UK inflation surging to a fresh 40-year high in official figures published today.

Most economists forecast the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will show consumer prices index (CPI) inflation jumping to 10.7 per cent last month from 10.1 per cent in September. It would mark the highest level of inflation since January 1982.

UK budget: John Swinney calls for budget for devolved governments including Scotland to be boosted in line with inflation

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