SCOTLAND’s preparations for a No-Deal Brexit are being stymied by the UK Government, an SNP minister has warned.

Michael Russell, the Scottish Constitution Minister, told The Sunday National that contact between the governments is “sporadic and dysfunctional”.

This goes against a previous promise by Michael Gove that “engagement with Scotland and the other devolved nations would intensify” when negotiations entered their final stage.

Russell called for an urgent meeting of the Joint Ministerial Cabinet committee.

The plea for talks comes as Brexit negotiations enter a vital “intensive” phase. Given the length of time needed for an agreement to be ratified by parliaments before the end of the transition period, there are effectively only two to three weeks for a deal to be struck between Brussels and London.

Discussions resumed on Thursday following the temporary stand-off initiated by Boris Johnson earlier this month. The Prime Minister said a deal was all but dead and told the UK to prepare for a hard Brexit.

However, both sides have now agreed an intensified talks schedule, with negotiations taking place over the weekend.

According to reports, there are still significant gaps over market access, free movement and state aid – the so-called level playing field – and fisheries.

For the UK to have zero-tariff, zero-quota access to the single market, it will have to agree to strict rules of government support for businesses and on European access to British fishing waters.

Russell’s fear is that even if agreement is reached it will be a “very poor deal, not much better than the total chaos of a No-Deal outcome”.

He told The National that the promise set out by Gove “has not materialised”.

He said the Scottish Government was “deeply concerned at the lack of serious engagement with us on the key decisions on the Brexit negotiations which impact directly on Scotland – including the lack of a Joint Ministerial Committee on EU Negotiations (JMC (EN)) ahead of the European Council, which is particularly regrettable”.

Russell added: “Despite the wishes of the overwhelming majority of people in Scotland, the UK Government has adopted ever more hardline positions.With time now running out for an agreement between the EU and the UK that can be in place for the end of the Transition Period a meeting of the JMC (EN) is now a matter of great urgency.

“Time is also running out for practical preparations for the end of the transition period.

“As a responsible government we are doing all we can, in difficult circumstances, to prepare. While contacts with UK Government at official level have improved in recent weeks, and Scottish ministers have taken part in a handful of meetings with UK counterparts, we are still far from having all the information we need – and engagement at ministerial level is still sporadic and dysfunctional.”

A UK Government spokesperson said it was working “closely” with devolved administrations.

They said: “This claim is simply untrue.

“Ministers from the Scottish Government are now invited to regular meetings of the Exit Operations Cabinet Committee, which they attended last Wednesday and the Tuesday before that. This is in addition to various further official and ministerial engagement. We are talking to the devolved administrations about scheduling a JMC for next week.”