A care home on the Scottish borders has been given a reprieve over closure threat, after significant improvements were made.

Highland Council chiefs confirmed a badly-kept secret yesterday – that they want councillors to scrap the local authority’s £30million pledge to construct five care homes.

A large-scale child abuse inquiry is being carried out by police in the Highlands. Two men have already appeared in court on abuse allegations involving two girls.

THE parents of a six-year-old boy who were investigated after a teacher spotted bruises on their son’s leg say they are scared to let him out to play in case he injures himself and social workers are called in again.

The fourth set of reports from the Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) project have been published. Launched in 2005, GUS has been tracking 8,000 families’ experiences including attitudes towards children’s services, parenting childcare, healthcare and education.

MORE money and training is to be given to foster carers in an effort to reduce the council’s reliance on independent agencies – currently costing upwards of £1 million a year.

A major child-abuse inquiry is being carried out by police in the Highlands. Two men have already appeared in court in connection with abuse allegations involving two girls.

Costs of building new care homes in the Highlands would be “significantly higher” than using private sector sites, council officers have said.

LEARNING from each other was the main message as an Aberdeen university welcomed a group of German exchange students yester- day.

THE threat of closure has been lifted from a private Borders care home after a watchdog found that conditions had improved since a damning inspection report was published in November, writes Andrew Keddie.