Image source, PA Media

John Swinney has ruled out cuts to universal benefits such as free university tuition and prescriptions.

However, the SNP leader has warned that difficult spending choices will have to be made in this year's budget.

Speaking last week, he said the government was grappling with "sky-high inflation" as it tried to meet public sector pay demands.

Swinney has also accused the Labour Party of applying the same fiscal constraints and "austerity regime" as the Conservatives.

The Scottish government has introduced emergency curbs on all "non-essential" spending as it negotiates pay deals with council workers, doctors, nurses and teachers.

Ministers have already announced several cost-cutting measures - introducing means-tested winter fuel payments, the return of peak rail fares, scrapping free bus travel for people in the asylum system and delaying a digital devices programme.

Read more here.

Tough choicespublished at 14:18 British Summer Time 3 September

14:18 BST 3 September

David Henderson
BBC Scotland Correspondent

Past choices by Scottish ministers could make it harder to resolve this funding crisis.

Savings will have to be made, and already some cherished policies face the axe.

Peak rail fares - removed by Humza Yousaf - are being brought back.

Winter fuel payments were given to ALL pensioners - but now only 10% qualify.

Council funding of flood defences will be cut, along with free laptops for school pupils and nature restoration.

But that only goes so far. Even tougher choices lie ahead.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission warns that the Scottish government has put pressure on itself - through the way it has handled previous pay settlements, the council tax freeze and social security payments.

So can ministers still have their cake and eat it - by protecting vital services like the NHS, while preserving all their favoured schemes?

Free university tuition, universal free prescriptions and the extension of free school meals are key SNP policies, but they have not been copied in England.

Finding the money to fund them, along with everything else, may prove more difficult than before.

Ahead of this afternoon's announcement Shona Robison struck a sombre tone, saying that Labour were introducing a "new age of austerity" at Westminster that would affect Scotland.

She said: "The cuts that they are proposing to make will have a profound effect on our ability to deliver for the people of Scotland – but [the] SNP government will do everything we can to protect people and public services from the cuts that Westminster is making to our budget”.

She added that her government's budget would still be "balanced".

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor

It is well known that there are going to be tough financial times over the next few years, but today we are talking about cuts to the spending plans that have already been announced and agreed for this financial year.

The Scottish government will make clear exactly where it's going to have to make those savings in the statement from Shona Robison.

Why is she having to do this? We know that the spending that you're able to do is dependent on the money that you have in the bank.

Inflation has put enormous pressure on that in recent times, and it has affected government in the same way as it has affected family budgets - only when it comes to government, its employees have then put pressure on ministers to spend more on pay increases.

The Scottish government has tended to agree rises in pay that have been greater in some cases than have been agreed in other parts of the UK.

Glenn Campbell
BBC Scotland Political Editor

I think we are talking about cuts or savings worth hundreds of millions of pounds.

The Sunday Times put a figure of £500m to £600m on the cuts that are needed and I don't think that will be far wrong.

I think we will get a specific figure from Finance Secretary Shona Robison this afternoon.

Of course we know of some of the cuts that are coming, because they've been announced over the summer period.

These include scrapping a free bus travel scheme for asylum seekers, we know that the rail fares reduction scheme is going in the month of September.

There are other areas where money is being held back, where there's been a delay to spending on the provision of tablets for some schoolchildren for example.

It's the first day back for most MSPs and they have a busy afternoon ahead, with five ministerial statements taking place.

Here's the schedule:

• 2.20-2.50pm Ministerial statement on community cohesion
• 2.50-3.35pm Ministerial statement on the pre-Budget fiscal update

• 3.35-4.05pm Ministerial statement on gender identity healthcare for young people

• 4.05-4.35pm Ministerial statement on Clyde and Hebrides ferries
• 4.35-5.05pm Ministerial statement on mobile phones in schools

Image source, PA

Good afternoon and welcome to our live coverage of the Scottish Parliament as Finance Secretary Shona Robison delivers her pre-budget fiscal update.

You can watch the statement with us here on the live page by clicking the play icon at the top of the page.