The finance secretary will set out the pre-election draft Budget to Holyrood tomorrow (13 January).

She added: ‘We will use this Budget to continue the progress we are delivering in Scotland – bringing down NHS waiting lists, supporting families, reducing child poverty and growing the economy.'

Meanwhile, Unite the union has demanded extra support for Scotland's social care workers in the draft Budget.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: ‘The Scottish government has a clear choice to support frontline social care before the system becomes irreparably broken. It's time for the politicians to back our social care workers and that only comes through investment in people and services.'

Unite says that without urgent Scottish government intervention and investment social care providers could cease to function over the coming years, resulting in job losses and more individuals leaving the profession, which would lead to a ‘point of no return' for the social care sector.

Shauna Wright, Unite lead officer for social care in Scotland, added: ‘Scotland's social care workers are closely watching the Scottish government as it sets out their priorities for the coming year. The politicians can either back them and start to fix the crisis or continue to ignore them at a massive cost to Scottish society.'