FINANCE Secretary Kate Forbes is urging MSPs to back her “bold and ambitious” spending plans for next year in a key vote at Holyrood today.

Forbes made the appeal amid ­concern from opposition parties about the amount of cash the Scottish Government has allocated to ­local government in its 2022-23 Budget.

MSPs are to discuss the general principles of tax and spending plans in the Scottish Parliament today.

Local government body Cosla have said the Budget allocation for ­councils, more than £11 billion, is a real-terms cut of £371 million.

Under the draft budget, local ­authorities will be able to raise council tax from April. The move was revealed in the budget document published last month and ends the SNP’s flagship policy to freeze or curb rises which had been in place since 2007.

Local councils have welcomed the move, complaining that they are struggling to fund vital services, but opposition parties have attacked it warning councils will inevitably raise the tax, putting pressure on ­householders.

Speaking ahead of the debate, Forbes said: “Our bold and ­ambitious spending plans are focused on ­supporting our key priorities, ­ensuring no one and no region is left behind.”

She said her draft budget “targets resources towards low-income households, invests in initiatives to end Scotland’s contribution to climate change and fundamentally, provides much-needed investment to bolster our economic recovery”.

She continued: “Recognising the severe impacts of the pandemic, £18 billion will support health boards and accelerate the recovery of vital health and social care services.

“Significant funding is also being provided to support the next steps in the single greatest public health reform since the establishment of the NHS – the creation of a new National Care Service.”

Tackling child poverty is another “key priority”, she added with the Scottish Government having pledged £197 million of cash to double the Scottish Child Payment – which is paid weekly to low-income families – from £10 to £20.

The Budget also allocates “at least £2 billion” in investments to ­support green jobs and work towards ­achieving net-zero emissions, Forbes said.

She also insisted: “Despite ­increased financial pressures, we are also continuing to treat councils ­fairly and we are providing a real-terms ­increase of over 5% to local authority budgets for the coming year – despite cuts to Scotland’s overall budget by the UK Government.”

Ahead of that debate, Scottish ­Conservatives pushed the Greens – who signed a powersharing ­agreement to enter Government last August – to “show some backbone” and stand up to SNP ministers over what they said to be a cut to councils.

However, Scottish Tory finance spokeswoman Liz Smith claimed that today’s vote was “the Greens’ big chance to show some backbone and stand up to the SNP”.

The Conservative said: “Unless they speak up and challenge the SNP over the devastating local council funding cut they have planned, the Greens will have abandoned their principles.

“It will be clearer than ever that they sold out simply for the good of the nationalist movement, and not for the good of the country.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton announced his party will vote against the Budget due to a lack of funding for social care and treatments for long Covid.

“Faced with a budget that ­delivers £371 million in cuts to ­local ­government and an unwillingness on the part of the SNP-Green ­Government to deliver key Scottish Liberal ­Democrat demands on long Covid and social care, we have no choice but to vote against the Budget at stage one,” he said.