The Scottish Government has been accused of attempting to "whitewash" a report after criticisms of their policies were deleted or amended after its author met the First Minister.

Naomi Eisenstadt, an independent advisor to Nicola Sturgeon, published a report to the Scottish Government on how it could help combat poverty in Scotland.

The First Minister met with Ms Eisenstadt in November 2015 to discuss the progress of the paper and in a briefing note and was told "Naomi will want to hear your views" on it.

Sturgeon was also given a copy of the paper by civil servants as part of her briefing.

Ms Eisenstadt was appointed by the First Minister to advise her on tackling poverty in June 2015.

In the private draft paper Ms Eisenstadt criticised the Scottish Government's council tax freeze as "not an anti-poverty measure".

The sentence was changed to "no longer an anti-poverty measure"-implying that it had been at some stage-in a further private paper only seen by the Scottish Government.

The final public paper said the freeze and reductions were "interventions which jointly protect all households from increasing council tax bills, but at a cost, and with disagreements about the equality and poverty impacts of the freeze."

The documents were released by the Scottish Government to the Times after the information commissioner ruled that they had to.

Ms Eisenstadt also warned in a private paper that "the council tax freeze should end".

The recommendation was later changed in the public report with the independent adviser stating the devolved administration should simply "consider" ending the policy.

Other changes to the report:

Scottish Labour deputy leader Alex Rowley said: "Scotland deserves better than a SNP government that tries to whitewash its own record.

"Everyone knows that the council tax freeze benefited the wealthiest over the poorest. Instead of scrapping the council tax as promised, the SNP now only tinkers around the edges. Labour's fairer plan would see 80 per cent of households paying less.

"The initial draft of Naomi Eisenstadt's report confirmed what Labour has said for years - council cuts hurt the poorest communities."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "Naomi Eisenstadt provides independent advice to the First Minister and the Scottish Government on tackling poverty and inequality in Scotland. Her remit is to hold the government to account.

"She has done so robustly, in private meetings with Ministers and civil servants, through her published report, at public events across Scotland, in articles she has written for external journals, and in media interviews.

"As Ms Eisenstadt herself made clear, the recommendations in her report, 'Shifting the Curve' 'are mine, as an independent advisor.'

"They were informed by one-to-one conversations, group discussions, public meetings, and presentations; as well as by a wealth of research, data and analysis. The Scottish Government committed to meeting the recommendations made in 'Shifting the Curve' in full and reported on progress to date within the fairer Scotland action plan, published in October 2016.

"Given the independent advisor was finalising her report during the period when the Draft Budget 2016-17 was published and the commission on local tax reform reported, it is not surprising that she adjusted the text to respond to these key publications. The recommendation to end the council tax freeze is included in both the two draft reports and the final report.

"The Scottish Government announced its plans to end the council tax freeze in March 2016, two months after the publication of the advisor's report. The text of all drafts and the final report is the responsibility of the independent adviser."