MORE than £4 billion has been spent on measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, Scottish Government figures have revealed.

Ministers said the huge sum demonstrates the "scale and breadth" of the response to the crisis, but warned this is just a snapshot and further action will be required.

The total includes a £2.3bn support package for business, a £620 million boost for health services and £358m extra to maintain transport services.

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Details are contained in an exceptional summer budget revision laid before the Scottish Parliament.

The spending has been largely funded by a rise in the Treasury's block grant of more than £3.5bn resulting from extra UK Government Covid-19 spending.

A further £112m was funnelled north following the last UK Budget and £255m has been re-prioritised from within existing departmental budgets.

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Donald Cameron said the figures revealed the strength of the UK's "broad shoulders".

He said the £4bn did not even include the support provided via the UK Government's job retention scheme, which covers 80 per cent of the wages of furloughed workers.

He said: “This shows just how committed the UK Government is to supporting Scotland through this crisis.

“Essentially, nearly 90% of the extra funding detailed in this document has been provided by the broad shoulders of the UK, and that’s before any account is taken of the very significant financial support in the shape of furloughing and other sums from the UK Government.

“It’s evidence that, in times of real crisis, the UK sticks together remarkably well.

“And as a result, when this is all over, hopefully all four nations will be able to emerge from the pandemic ready to face a brighter future.”

Both Scottish Labour and the Greens called on SNP ministers to bring the newly published summer budget revision before the Scottish Parliament for scrutiny.

Scottish Labour deputy leader and finance spokesperson Jackie Baillie said: “The decisions made in this year’s budget revision will have a long-lasting and deep impact on Scotland’s economy and as a result on the lives of many people.

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“The amount of money being 're-prioritised' from ministerial budgets gives a headline figure but no detail on what the impact will actually be.

"The reasons for cutting budgets must be explained directly to parliament.

“The Scottish budget is facing the twin threat of a collapse in income and skyrocketing expenditure.

"In light of this threat it is vital that the SNP Government engages with other parties in order to safeguard our economic future."

She added: "All must be done to ensure that the economic decisions being made now do not exacerbate the underlying weakness in our finances.

“At the moment this summer revision only paints a partial picture of the severe challenges that lie ahead.

"It is important for the Scottish Government to bring forward revised estimates quickly given the changes that can already be anticipated in the budget for this year. “

Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said it was "far bigger than a normal in-year budget revision, for understandable reasons".

He added: "When the Scottish budget was passed nobody had predicted the scale of the crisis we’ve been living with, and the impact on public services and the public purse.

"But given the scale of these changes they clearly need far greater scrutiny than in previous years.

"Both the immediate use of the additional funds, and the longer term challenges in developing a fairer and greener recovery, need full debate in Parliament if we’re going to hold a minority government to account and ensure that Scotland can build back better from this crisis."

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said significant budget challenges lie ahead and a further update will be provided in the autumn.

She called for more funding and flexibility from UK ministers.

She said: “These figures demonstrate the scale and breadth of our response to this unprecedented situation, with support extending into most aspects of Scottish life and every part of our country.

“I must stress that this is a snapshot of spending to date. The situation is still developing and further action will be required.

"We have very limited room for manoeuvre within our own budget, which is why I will continue to make the case to the UK Government for an increase in both funding and flexibility to allow the Scottish Government to respond fully to this crisis."

She added: "Significant budget challenges lie ahead and work is underway to ensure that Scottish Government resources are targeted at stimulating a safe, swift and sustainable recovery for our public services and our economy.

“We have produced this additional budget revision to provide complete transparency about how our Covid-19 response funding is being spent and where it is coming from.

"It will be many months before a full picture emerges and a further update on the funding position will be provided in the autumn.”