Scottish Finance Secretary Shona Robison has insisted they are “not settling for £300 million” in compensation offered by the British government to cover increased National Insurance (NI) costs.

The Scottish government estimates the increase in employers’ NI contributions in October’s UK Budget could leave it will a bill topping £500m, eating into the additional £3.4 billion it delivered to Scottish coffers.

Reports suggest the British government could offer £295-£330m to cover the bill but, as negotiations continue, Ms Robison told BBC Radio Scotland: “We are not settling for £300m.

“We are absolutely determined to make sure we get that figure up.

“When we do get the final figure, we will have a fair distribution of that across the public sector, including local government.”

A British government spokesperson responded: “The Scottish government receives over 20 per cent more funding per person than equivalent UK government spending.

“It is for the Scottish government to allocate this across its own public sector and meet the priorities of people in Scotland.

“It will also receive additional Barnett funding on top of this record £47.7bn settlement as part of support provided in relation to changes to employer NI.”