As negotiations between government and opposition parties continue ahead of this week's vote on the Scottish Budget, the Greens have released figures showing the huge impact their free insulation plans would have on the economy.

As negotiations between government and opposition parties continue ahead of this week's vote on the Scottish Budget, the Greens have released figures showing the huge impact their free insulation plans would have on the economy.

The party has been campaigning through the website warmscotland.org for an ambitious 10-year scheme to provide free insulation for every home in Scotland.

They say that by spending £100m a year to do the job, this investment would be repaid many times over not just in terms of savings per household, particularly those facing fuel poverty, but in the contribution to the country's carbon emissions target.

Government figures say the average annual cost per household in savings is £340. By the end of the 10-year programme this would amount to £782m annually, even if energy bills stayed at current levels.

Patrick Harvie, co-convener of the Scottish Greens, said: "We are faced with an unprecedented dual crisis, both economic and environmental, and this proposal is one way ministers could make a real difference to both at the same time."

Graeme Brown, director of Shelter Scotland, said: "A dry, warm home is a fundamental need, not a luxury, but at current rates of progress there is no chance of meeting the 2016 fuel poverty target.

"It is reasonable to expect that fuel prices, even if dropping a little, will remain higher than they were when the target was set. So the Scottish Government needs to do everything it can to re-establish momentum towards the 2016 target. This ambitious programme is one way of doing that."

The Scottish Building Federation last week appealed for all parties to get behind the Greens' plans, which are also backed by housing charities and conservation bodies.

Meanwhile, Ministers have denied claims that the Budget document shows increased spending on bureaucracy at the expense of front-line services. The rise of 11% in the central administration budget prompted attacks from opponents.

Labour's shadow finance minister Andy Kerr said: "This huge expansion in government spending on red tape and administration could not come at a worse time and shows how out of touch with hard-working Scots that the SNP really are."

A Scottish Government spokesman said the figures showed record numbers of front-line staff in health, education and policing and that the rise in central staffing was due to 651 staff coming in after progress on the continuing abolition of quangos.