The Scottish Government's investment strategy has been dealt a "hammer blow" as a result of a change in classification for a major roads project, Labour has claimed.

Deputy First Minister John Swinney has insisted that the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) will still be "completed on time and on budget" by winter 2017, despite the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ruling that the £745 million road must be classed as a public sector project.

The decision, which comes as a result of changes to European technical guidance, means the project will have to go on to the Scottish Government's balance sheet.

With the ONS also reviewing the classification of two hospital projects being funded the same way - the building of Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary and the new Edinburgh Royal Hospital for Sick Children - Labour finance spokeswoman Jackie Baillie called for a review into how the change would impact on the funding of other projects.

The AWPR had previously been classified as being delivered by the private sector, as it is being funded by the non-profit distribution (NPD) scheme which uses private finance but caps the profit that firms can make.

The Scottish Government will now "give further consideration to the contractual arrangements that apply to the AWPR, with a view to securing a private sector classification", Mr Swinney said.

He also said he is considering if changes need to be made to the Hub model, which delivers some NPD projects.

As a result, he conceded "there is likely to be some further impact of the delivery timetable for Hub projects that are in the current pipeline".

But he insisted the AWPR, along with the construction of the two new hospitals, would be delivered on time and on budget.

The Deputy First Minister stated the change is a "statistical accounting classification and has no impact on the cost or delivery timetable of the AWPR or the two NHS projects that the ONS has also indicated it will review".

He has pledged to report to MSPs on the issue after Holyrood gets back to business following its summer recess.

But Ms Baillie said: "This decision is a hammer blow to the SNP's entire investment strategy. The fact that this flagship project doesn't meet EU requirements has huge implications for how we finance the building of roads, schools and hospitals.

"On the one hand John Swinney says this has no impact on the budget or timetable for the Aberdeen bypass project, yet on the other hand he says there will need to be a renegotiation of the contract. It doesn't add up. It's clear there will need to be an increased stake for the private sector, despite previous SNP assurances."

Mr Swinney said: "Infrastructure investment is at the heart of our economic strategy - delivering jobs, increased economic activity and productive assets of benefit to the people of Scotland.

"The programme of revenue-financed NPD/Hub projects has played an important role in maintaining investment - with two projects worth £29 million completed and another 18 under construction.

"Each additional £100 million of public sector capital spending in 2015-16 is estimated to support around 1,000 full-time equivalent Scottish jobs, just over half of which are in the construction sector."