SNP plans to tackle Scotland's "catastrophic attainment gap" are in disarray and look unlikely to materialise, council chiefs have claimed.

Leaders from the Scottish Local Government Partnership (SLGP) said they have yet to receive any detail on how the Scottish Government intends to implement its flagship education policies.

Education officers from the four local authorities in SLGP - Aberdeen, Glasgow, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire - said that they have received no response to their requests for information on funding.

And they claimed that it would now be impossible for ministers to meet their pledges on additional child care places, extra teachers for nurseries in deprived areas and more funding for attainment by the 2020/21 deadline.

SLGP convener Jenny Laing has called on First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to tell councils immediately how her Government intends to meet the commitments.

She said: "It's incredibly concerning that our officials have said that all requests around how these policy pledges are going to be taken forward and funded have been ignored.

"Take the pledge to extend childcare from 600 to 1140 hours by 2020/21, for example. This will require a massive building programme to create the nurseries required to accommodate the plan. But we have not had one single piece of information on what the capital investment will be or when the Government will even begun to put milestones in place so we can at least start planning.

"Our officials have said that because of the Scottish Government's reluctance to communicate details, it will now be impossible to implement the policy in the time promised to the people of Scotland.

"The same goes for its pledge to deliver an additional teacher or qualified worker for every nursery in a deprived area. We have given the Scottish Government a list of more than 100 nurseries and are ready to push the button on this. But we have heard nothing back.

"When is Nicola Sturgeon going to act? These policies are designed to deal with Scotland's catastrophic attainment gap, but if they don't materialise, as now looks very likely, the First Minister cannot even begin to deliver on her promise to the country that she will tackle the problem."

The SLGP Cabinet met in Glasgow on Friday to hear the pleas of education officials.

The Partnership, which split from local government umbrella body Cosla 18 months ago, said it represents 1.3 million Scots in areas which generate almost half of Scotland's economic output.

The SLGP is calling on Finance Secretary Derek Mackay to set out a four year budget giving details of how he intends to bring forward the Scottish Government's flagship education measures.

Ms Laing, who is also leader of Aberdeen City Council, said: "The clock is ticking and meanwhile the problems in Scotland's schools goes from bad to worse. Local authorities want to do everything we can to work with the Scottish Government in addressing the attainment gap, but our hands are tied while ministers refuse to lay out the details of their plans."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We are in regular dialogue with all local authorities, including the Scottish Local Government Partnership, as part of our commitment to taking forward our key education priorities and Ministers have twice met with the SLGP over recent months.

"Our commitment to increase free early learning and childcare is this Government's most transformative infrastructure project. The expansion, which will be developed to meet local needs, will see the recruitment of around 20,000 qualified workers up to 2020.

"Work has already started to plan for this expansion and we will continue to work with local authorities as we take forward this pledge."