Three quarters of Scottish households will be given a £150 payment in a bid to tackle the rising cost of living.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes said the cash would go to households in council tax bands A to D and all of those eligible for council tax reduction.

It means some 1.85 million households – 73% of the total – will receive £150 of support when those elements are combined.

An extra £10m is also to be targeted at people struggling with fuel bills.

The cash is in addition to £120m allocated to local government in a bid to hold down council tax increases in the coming year.

Ms Forbes said that the payments were honestly “not enough” with households across the UK struggling, and called for “urgent” action from the UK government to help.

Concerns about the cost of living are mounting, amid rising prices and energy bills and coming changes to National Insurance.

Ms Forbes said these costs would “hit the most vulnerable in our society the hardest”, potentially pushing households into fuel poverty.

The finance secretary said there was still uncertainty about how much extra funding is on offer from the UK government, but committed to spending £290m in “targeted assistance” for those on the lowest incomes.

The £150 payments will go to all occupied households in council tax bands A to D, as well as all of those in receipt of council tax reduction.

Local authorities will have the choice of delivering this either as a direct cash payment or as a credit to council tax accounts.

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