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The Scottish government has welcomed new steps to resolve spending disputes with Westminster over matters such as the London Olympics.

Ministers believe that spending on regenerating London for the 2012 games should be mirrored in Scotland.

They want about £165m to be awarded to Scotland under the Barnett formula, which allocates money to the devolved administrations.

An independent third party will now look at the problem issues.

After a meeting today in London, ministers from the UK, the Scottish and Welsh Assembly governments and the Northern Ireland Executive agreed to find ways for a third party to consider unresolved issues.

Scottish External Affairs Minister Fiona Hyslop said: "I hope today's agreement will help us find new ways to resolve the few really difficult issues, through advice and a recommendation from an independent third party.

"I hope this will allow us to move quickly to find an agreement on the Olympics issue, which has been under discussion for some time now, and where the three devolved administrations are united on the point that Barnett consequentials should be applied."

An earlier joint declaration estimated £1.7bn would be spent on transport and regeneration costs for the London Olympics.

It said at least £165m in 'consequentials' would be due to Scotland, more than £100m to Wales and about £65m to Northern Ireland.