Council bosses have been criticised for making a pay deduction during a month when staff were already struggling to make ends meet. Around 4000 workers previously paid weekly or fortnightly by Falkirk Council go on to monthly wages at the end of this month.

A sex offender approved as a foster carer who then abused young girls in his care in Aberdeen has been jailed for three-and-a-half years. The man in his 50s, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was found guilty of molesting three children in the 1990s.

{mosimage}After his trial, it emerged he had already been convicted for lewd and libidinous behaviour in the 1970s. His sentence was greeted with a round of applause from members of the public at Aberdeen Sheriff Court. The court heard how on separate occasions he had gone into the three girls bedrooms and sexually assaulted them.

Sheriff Colin Harris told him: “You have been convicted by the jury of serious offences against young girls entrusted in your care by the local authority. They were vulnerable, separated from their parents, and living with strangers, but you took advantage of them by preying on them and in doing so you breached their trust. There is no other alternative for the court but to impose a sentence of imprisonment.”

It emerged he had previously been found guilty of lewd and libidinous practices against a child in the 1970s. He was fined £80 after being found guilty of lewd and libidinous practices. Aberdeen City Council admitted it knew of the conviction when the man and his wife were approved as foster parents, but did not think he had posed a risk.

Better monitoring is needed to measure how effective homelessness prevention services are, Shelter Scotland has said. Shelter’s report has recommended that more efficient monitoring and evaluation is needed as there is little to help councils in measuring how successful their prevention programmes have been in providing lasting solutions.