The Scottish ­Government has demanded that a larger slice of the funding set aside to back the elite of British sport is spent in Scotland as part of the revamp of UK Sport's strategy which is expected in the New Year.

With the high-performance body currently examining ideas generated by a public consultation over its future, the Sunday Herald has learned that pressure has been applied at ministerial level to redirect its budget, in order to remove what is seen as the Anglocentric nature of Olympic and Paralympic programmes.

The call for change, understood to have been backed by the administrations in Wales and Northern Ireland, is reflected in SportScotland's own submission to UK Sport which petitions for more top-level centres of excellence to be moved out of England, for a shift in its expenditure, and for more training camps for Great Britain and Northern Ireland teams to be held north of the Border. "If we get that," said one senior source, "we'll be happy."

It has added a new political layer to the possible reshaping of the national approach to elite investment which has, hitherto, been centred on the bedrock of a "no compromise" approach which prioritises medals above grassroots or societal spin-offs.

It also reflects a dismay that British Curling, based in Stirling, is presently the only tier-one programme based outside England. On the Caledonian target list is believed to be mountain biking, boxing and judo, which would entail splitting up, or moving, those sports' present single-centre bases.

"What I'm looking for is recognition of our satellite centres," said sportscotland institute of sport director Mike Whittingham. "It's time for all of us to get a bit tougher and say we really have proved we can deliver on the world stage. It's not a one-off, it's started with London. It's concluded with Sochi, where we proved ourselves.

"From a Commonwealth Games perspective, 63 medallists were phenomenal. It proves we are capable of having world-class programmes in Scotland. We do have the British Curling programme here. But we haven't got any summer programmes. That's the next step."

Any alterations would have to be signed off by UK Sport's board, which consists of representatives of the home nations in addition to external members appointed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. Privately, assurances have been given that there will be no radical changes in the spending plans already in place up to the Rio Olympics of 2016, but it seems unlikely that the call for some of the cash pooled in the central pot to be returned to Scotland, Wales and North Ireland will be ignored.

It would also help the Scottish Government, and its new Sports Minister Jamie Hepburn, out of a hole. Although he inherits a pledge that investment in performance sport will not be significantly changed in the cycle which leads up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia, many domestic governing bodies fear there will be cuts at the edges when they learn of the funding decisions in the New Year, as well as an end to the current system of personal athlete grants.

Even if 3% of UK Sport's £80 million grants budget - derived from the Exchequer and the National Lottery - were to be reclaimed, well above the identifiable £768,000 distributed to Scotland in 2013-14, it could ensure there is enough money to go round.

"In certain sports, Scotland is kicking above its weight," Whittingham said. "We need to sustain success in those but in others, there will be tough decisions. Can we always invest in every sport? That's going to be challenging."