COUNCIL leaders reported being on “standby” today as discussions continued about teacher pay amid strikes across Scotland.

Ahead of another meeting between the Scottish government and council umbrella body Cosla today, SNP Deputy First Minister John Swinney refused to confirm whether a new offer is imminent.

Teaching unions first launched walkouts in late November last year after rejecting a below-inflation deal worth between 5 and 6.85 per cent for most educators.

Further industrial action is due on February 28 and March 1, while the EIS union is planning 20 further days of rolling strikes across all council areas from the middle of next month.

When asked if local authorities would be allocated additional funds to facilitate an improved offer, Mr Swinney told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “There will be discussions with local government in the course of the day about these issues.”

The acting Finance Secretary said: “We’ve been talking on an ongoing basis because, as has been obvious from a whole range of industrial negotiations that have been going on, the government has been very actively involved in trying to resolve these issues.”

But the Perthshire North MSP claimed that Holyrood is operating under “very difficult financial circumstances as a consequence of the raging inflation with which we are all wrestling.”

Cosla resource spokeswoman Katie Hagmann told the programme there “were no expectations” for the meeting about potential additional cash.

But Inverclyde Council leader Stephen McCabe said that the heads of all 32 councils north of the border are on “standby,” hinting at a “special meeting of leaders to approve a revised offer” on Tuesday.

“What that offer will look like I don’t know as I am not privy to the discussions,” he said.

“I would hope that we could find a way to at least suspend the strikes, maybe pending further discussions around a deal, but I really don’t know what the government is going to come up with.”

The local authority leader also accused Mr Swinney of being “deliberately misleading” with his claims that councils are set to receive an additional £570 million in 2023-24.

The vast majority of the funds are “already earmarked for Scottish government policy priorities, including pay and free school meals, leaving about £71m for councils to use,” according to Mr McCabe.