The permanent secretary Leslie Evans, second left, wrote about the difficulties of working with the UK government

Scotland’s top civil servant has made public her unhappiness over the way her Whitehall colleagues are dealing with the Scottish government.

Leslie Evans, permanent secretary to the Scottish government, said she felt compelled to give a “pretty frank” presentation to Whitehall’s top civil servants last month, explaining how difficult it has been for the devolved administrations to work with Whitehall on Brexit. Ms Evans’s decision to speak out is likely to add to the problems in an already tetchy relationship between Holyrood and Westminster.

The UK and Scottish governments are in a dispute over Theresa May’s Brexit bill, which Nicola Sturgeon has refused to give Scottish consent unless crucial changes are made.

Writing in an internal blog for Scottish civil servants, which has just been