THE Scottish Greens are on the brink of a deal with Finance Secretary Kate Forbes, allowing the party to support the government's budget plans in return for free bus travel for young people and more money for local councils.

Talks have been taking place all day between the six Green MSP and Forbes's team ahead of a key vote in Holyrood tomorrow on the draft bill.

Sources in the party have said they are very close to an agreement.

"We are anticipating there will be news later today. Talks took place this morning."

The insider added: "It's not done yet, but we are optimistic."

READ MORE: Blocking the Budget would be 'a blow' to child poverty spending

There is speculation the Scottish Government may be close to moving towards a Green demand on public transport with Patrick Harvie's party hopeful of ministers responding positively to his request for free bus travel for young people.

Proposed cuts to council services – such as the controversial closure by Glasgow City Council of the Blairvadach Outdoor Centre – were also raised by the Greens as a concern in the negotiations.

The minority SNP Government will need opposition support to pass its Budget, which also includes a £3.4 billion on social security following the transfer of welfare powers to Holyrood.

Earlier this week, Communities Secretary Aileen Campbell said failure to pass the Scottish Budget would be a "grave blow" to efforts aimed at reducing child poverty. 

Warning that government spending on child poverty could be jeopardised, Campbell cautioned opposition parties of the "very real impact" if there are delays in passing the plans.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) warned the funding for councils in the Budget Bill would result in a £95 million cut to revenue and £117m reduction to capital funds – £300m and £130m in real terms respectively.

The Greens were earlier critical of the Government's Budget plans, saying they did not go far enough to address climate change.

They also referred to independent analysis from parliamentary researchers that the plans are carbon-intensive and ignores expert advice on transport policy.

In its budget analysis, Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice) figures found that ministers had ignored the recent Infrastructure Commission, which advised them to shift spending away from new roads and into measures to encourage fewer private car journeys.

Spice said funding for new public transport routes and walking and cycling is “dwarfed” by commitments to road expansions.

READ MORE: Scottish Budget: Greens question SNP over low-carbon investments

Responding at the time Harvie said: “Away from the SNP spin, these figures show this Budget for what it is – an inadequate response to the climate emergency.

“This report shows that in high-intensity sectors like transport, the Scottish Government are using the right rhetoric on climate, but pursuing a business-as-usual approach.

“We don’t have time to pretend to take this seriously. The Scottish Government could start by following the recommendations of its own Infrastructure Commission, which said that no additional capacity should be added to the road network and that we should invest to boost public transport instead.

He added: “The Greens are willing to work with the Government to introduce free bus travel for our young people and provide warm homes, but Ministers will need to wake up to the climate emergency to do that.”