AN advisor appointed by Nicola Sturgeon who has been tasked with "raising awareness of the realities of living in poverty" will be paid up to £3,000 a month for carrying out the part-time role.

Naomi Eisenstadt, a senior research fellow at the University of Oxford and trustee of Save the Children, will subject the Scottish Government to independent scrutiny over its efforts to alleviate poverty and tackle inequality.

She will be paid up to £30,000 for the 10 month role, without having to commit to working a fixed number of hours. A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: "She can work according to the needs of the task."

Ms Eisenstadt, also a former UK Government social exclusion adviser, warned the Scottish Government that she will provide "hard challenge" when necessary and press for innovative ways to tackle poverty.

She said: "I am here to give my honest views about whether the policies in place will help to reduce poverty and inequality in Scotland.

"I plan to hold ministers to account and challenge everyone to come up with new and innovative ways to tackle deep seated poverty."

The appointment follows through on a commitment made by Ms Sturgeon shortly after becoming First Minister to appoint an independent advisor to offer scrutiny on tackling poverty. She had previously said that she hoped the role would be filled by March.

The SNP leader said: "Scotland is a wealthy country but around one in six people are currently living in poverty. That is completely unacceptable.

"We are seeing some progress in reducing inequality but not nearly enough.

"My main priority is making sure that everyone has the chance to get on in life, regardless of where they are from.

"The scrutiny and input of an independent expert will help to make sure - and provide assurance to the public - that we are doing absolutely all we can to make Scotland a more equal society."

Scottish Labour Social Justice Spokesperson Ken Macintosh MSP said he was pleased the appointment had been made before the summer.

He added: "We are particularly hopeful that an independent poverty adviser will allow us to shift our focus towards what we can do here in Scotland rather than simply protest about the damaging impact on poverty of the Tory welfare reforms and austerity cuts."