Scottish councils have warned Finance Secretary John Swinney against protecting NHS spending in the predicted round of budget cuts.

Linlithgow is to be made Scotland’s first deaf- aware town under an ­innovative new project run by the national school for the deaf.

A rift between health and council bodies in Glasgow is to result in a major shake-up of services and a cull of management posts in both – which will save hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Highland Council has agreed to abandon its promise to build five new care homes for the elderly across the region. Councillors at Inverness voted 52 to 25 to abandon the scheme after an emotional three hour debate.

The Scottish Government is determined to continue providing free personal care for the elderly, the Health Minister has said.

The SIC has approved a proposed increase in the number of long-term care places in Shetland but needs to identify where the money to going to come from.

NORTH Ayrshire Council has a new social work boss. Iona Colvin joins the local authority from the South West Community Health Care Partnership where she was director.

Glasgow Social Care Providers Forum has launched Scotland’s first post-budget survey into ‘Provider Pain’ as the care sector tries to balance its books in the face of ever-deeper cuts.

A new survey has revealed 99% of Scots would contact the authorities if they suspected a child was being abused or neglected.

The people of Aberdeen have been asked to decide which city council services should be cut in the search for £120million of savings.