ThE Scottish Government has refused to guarantee the introduction of a heralded £144-a-week flat rate pension if Scotland becomes independent.

The new rate is due to be introduced in April 2016, a month after the Scottish Government's target to leave the UK.

Whether Scots would receive the flat rate payment, which has been praised by many campaigners for its fairness, was among a list of questions published in a report by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.

The Scottish Government last night would not guarantee that Scots would receive the new rate if they vote Yes in next year's referendum.

A spokesman said: "Pensions will be fully protected in an independent Scotland, including state, public and private pensions.

"Independence will give the opportunity to ensure that future improvements to the provision and regulation of pensions of Scots are made by a Parliament which is fully accountable to the people of Scotland.

"Spending on social protection, which includes state and public pensions, is more affordable in Scotland than for the UK."

He added the Scottish Government would set out detailed proposals setting out how pensions will operate following independence "shortly".

Labour's shadow pensions minister Gregg McClymont, MP for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, said: "The SNP have serious questions to answer about the future of pensions in a separate Scotland.

"The costs and complexities of breaking up a 300 year union are nowhere more stark than in pensions where the pension rights of Scots accrue over lifetimes. That's why Scots want answers to the questions repeatedly raised by pension experts."

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries insists it does not have a view on the outcome of the independence referendum.