Scotland's free personal care initiative is not facing a funding crisis, the country's health minister has insisted.

Malcolm Chisholm said he had no reason to believe that the current figures were wrong.

But he added "if we have to pay more over time, we have to pay more".

The minister's statement on Monday came after speculation over the weekend that the benefit could be rationed.

Malcolm Chisholm will meet councils over the claims

Uptake of free care has been higher than expected in some areas and several councils have warned that they may run out of money.

The executive has costed the policy with economist David Bell and Mr Chisholm said he had "no reason to believe the figures were wrong".

"Obviously over time if there are changes that have to be made, changes will have to be made and if we have to pay more over time we have to pay more.

"But that is not the message coming through at the moment. We don't have anything that cannot be dealt with and if there are problems the new group will look at them and deal with them," he added.

However, Mr Chisholm said the executive wanted to set up a working team with Cosla, the umbrella group representing most Scottish councils, to look into the funding issue.

Lack of funding

The flagship free personal care policy came into effect in July and was hailed by the Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition at Holyrood as one of the key achievements of its three years in office.

Previously, the elderly were entitled to help with their nursing costs but not personal care, which includes washing and dressing.

Personal care charges for those living in their own homes were abolished.

The executive estimated that more than 75,000 people would benefit.

However, according to a report in the Sunday Herald, six local authorities - Highland, Argyll and Bute, South Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, Midlothian and Orkney - were considering drawing up priority lists for free personal care due to a lack of funding.

Mr Chisholm said no councils had approached the executive to raise concerns.

This policy must be delivered in its entirety because that is what parliament insisted on

Nicola Sturgeon SNP health spokeswoman

He said that the policy was not in crisis and its introduction had gone far smoother than anyone had predicted.

The Scottish National Party health spokeswoman Nicola Sturgeon said the reports would be causing "great anxiety and uncertainty" for Scotland's elderly.

She said: "I think it's incumbent on Malcolm Chisholm to have a look to make sure that local authorities are adequately funded, and if they're not to look at what extra resources are required.

"This policy must be delivered in its entirety because that is what parliament insisted on."