People in North Ayrshire who use social work services and their carers are generally positive about the resulting improvements in their lives, according to an inspection report published yesterday, by the Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA).

The numbers of children being taken into care has increased in the Highlands by 12% each year since 2004, according to a council report.

A private care company is carrying out an inquiry and reviewing its protection measures following the death of a pensioner with dementia who went missing from a nursing home in Caithness.

Almost 30 elderly residents have been led to safety after a fire broke out at a care home in Aberdeenshire.

{mosimage}The 27 residents, most aged in their 80s, were taken to another care home after the blaze took hold at the council-run Ythanvale Home in Ellon.

Six residents had to be rescued from their rooms because thick smoke on the ground floor stopped them escaping.

Fire crews were called just before 2000 GMT on Saturday when a light fitting fell down and set fire to a carpet.

According to David Rout, station manager at Aberdeen fire station, a firefighter and a member of staff carried two residents to safety.

“There was thick black smoke and fire in the ground floor corridor,” he said. “It was blocking the escape route for the residents in that wing.

“If it had not been for the swift action taken by the care home staff it could have had far more serious consequences.

“The staff were exemplary in their actions and if it had not been for them the potential consequences could have been horrendous.”

A two-month strike which shut day care centres for adults with learning and physical disabilities across Glasgow has ended.

{mosimage}A narrow majority of the 250-plus social care staff, all members of Unison, voted yesterday to return to work after an offer by the city council on pay and gradings was accepted. All return to work on Monday, with a pledge that current earnings are protected. There had been some concern that the strikers would reject the deal, despite its recommendation by Unison leaders.

Advice by union officials not to strike until the local authority had published its blueprint for the reform of the day care service had been rejected at the outset of the action.

Union sources talked yesterday of a “wind of change” blowing through the council following threats that other social work departments were primed for their own walkouts, while some within the local authority spoke of “strike fatigue” within Unison.

Both sides are still poles apart in what has been achieved through the action.

Mike Kirby, Unison’s Glasgow branch secretary, said: “This settlement gives these people the grades they were looking for but our view is the council could have come forward with this weeks ago.

“It’s taken eight weeks for them to realise the original grade was wrong.”

Childminders, care homes and nurseries are to get tough new ratings to help the public choose the best services, it was announced yesterday.

The final stage of a process that will see patients with learning disabilities from New Craig’s Hospital in Inverness housed in the community is well under way.

A national volunteering programme for young Scots modelled on a US scheme created by Bill Clinton and lauded by Prime Minister Gordon Brown has had its funding axed by the Scottish Government.

Kinship carers are to receive a weekly allowance for looking after the children of their relatives, the Scottish Government has announced.

{mosimage}It is estimated that more than 2,000 children in Scotland are cared for by relatives because the youngsters cannot be looked after by their own parents. The relatives will be eligible for a weekly allowance of up to £198.

The move is part of an overhaul of the system to support youngsters looked after by foster and kinship carers. The strategy was the first to be produced as a joint commitment by the Scottish Government and local government umbrella group Cosla.

It will introduce a minimum weekly allowance of between £119 and £198 for all carers – putting kinship carers on a par with foster carers. An information and advice service will be introduced for kinship carers.

The strategy will also seek to improve assessment and approval processes and provide better training and support for all carers.

Children’s Minister Adam Ingram said: “Removing any child from the care of their parents is an enormous step with huge responsibilities and that’s why the measures announced today are so important.

Leading child welfare advocates have called for a “truth and reconciliation commission” to address historic cases of abuse against children in care.