East Lothian MSP and Scottish Labour Leader Iain Gray is leading calls for a full public inquiry into the closure of Cockenzie House Nursing Home.

Dr Kate Cavanagh was internationally renowned for her work in the areas of domestic violence and violence against children. She died on November 15, two years after she was first diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

The number of Scots kids in care has soared to a 25-year high. Ministers and council chiefs yesterday admitted the system was failing as it was revealed most youngsters left with few qualifications and little hope of a job.

A teenager has been jailed for swearing and conducting himself in a disorderly manner at a homeless unit in Coatbridge.  Caray Wilson was sent to prison for four months after pleading guilty to committing a breach of the peace at Old School Court – less than two weeks after being granted bail from Airdrie Sheriff Court.

Dumfries and Galloway need to make cuts of £12 million over the next three years to bring the council’s budget out of the red.

Reported cases of domestic violence have increased in Scotland, with figures showing a rise of almost 14 per cent in four years, it was revealed yesterday.

Thousands of Scottish council workers will get a £500 early Christmas present as one local authority revealed it is breaking ranks in a long-running national pay dispute.

SCOTLAND’S chief prosecutor called yesterday for an increase in the age at which children can be held criminally responsible. Elish Angiolini, the Lord Advocate, told MSPs that eight-year-olds – who can currently be prosecuted – should not normally face the courts.

AT LEAST 600 Scottish babies a year are judged to be at risk of abuse before they are even born, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. Official figures reveal that in the last year, 331 unborn babies were placed on the official child protection register, many of them because of their mother’s drink or drug problems.

SENIOR councillors have admitted that the cost of five new care homes could rise even further than the £27.2 million reported this week to Highland Council’s housing and social work committee.