A small cash payment made to hundreds of adults with learning disabilities attending day-care centres is to be scrapped – to save £42,000. The move has been described as “callous” and guaranteed to cause massive upset among some of Glasgow’s most vulnerable citizens.

Child dealers of heroin, cocaine and other banned substances are being arrested at the rate of one every four days in the latest sign that Scotland is in the grip of a drugs epidemic. More than 300 children – some as young as 10 – have been charged with supplying in the past three years and a total of 20kgs of drugs seized by police.

One in five children reporting sex abuse to a helpline said their abuser was a woman, a new study has revealed. A report into the findings by ChildLine Scotland, said more needs to be done to raise awareness of child sex abuse by women, after the charity found 20 per cent of young victims who called its telephone support line said the perpetrator was female.

Dentists in Scotland’s most deprived areas are to get extra cash to help care for their patients. About 350 dentists are set to qualify for extra payments of up to £9,000 to improve their facilities and allow them to spend more time with patients.

Casual sex is more common today than a decade ago, according to the co-ordinator of the Catholic Church’s controversial “cash-for-babies” scheme, which celebrates its tenth anniversary next week.

A landmark ruling which brought hope to thousands of elderly people waiting for free personal care was yesterday exposed as utterly toothless. The Court of Session heard a decision by the public services watchdog was not legally binding, and regardless of whether it was judged to be right or wrong in law it would not end the row about councils operating waiting lists for free personal care.

Nearly a quarter of residents in some of Scotland’s most deprived communities turned to their GP with depression in a year, according to a survey. Gang activity and rowdy behaviour are worse problems than studies have previously shown and, despite the smoking ban, only one in 10 people from poor neighbourhoods have any intention of giving up tobacco in the next six months.

More than four children a day in Scotland called a national helpline for advice about sex abuse, according to a new report. Research into calls to ChildLine Scotland in 2003-04 found that 3021 concerned sexual abuse, 93% of which related to family members or friends. A fifth of abusers were female.

More than 900,000 people in Scotland are living in poverty, including 240,000 children, a study has warned. The Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland called on all parties to commit themselves to more concerted measures to eradicate poverty.

Thousands of asthma sufferers across Scotland may benefit from a new three-year project to improve treatment methods.