Rhona Brankin, the Deputy Environment and Rural Development Minister, has been appointed as Scotland’s new Communities Minister to replace Malcolm Chisholm who resigned last month.

A highly effective campaign to encourage the public to help get more drug dealers off the streets is to be extended across Scotland. The recent localised Drug Dealers Don’t Care (DDDC) campaign in six local authority areas is to be extended to include Dundee, Aberdeen and South Lanarkshire.

Drug abusers are 10 times more likely than the overall population to suffer from dyslexia, a study by Stirling University shows. Of the addicts studied, 40% were dyslexic, compared with about 4% of the total population of Scotland.

Dundee City Council has confirmed that it is forced to divert cash from other council budgets to the social work department to ensure young lives are not put at risk.

An anti-domestic abuse poster campaign, using a different daily message on the same billboard over the course of a week, begins today as part of the Scottish Executive Campaign – Domestic Abuse, There’s No Excuse.

Shelter has been bombarded with calls from French journalists looking to learn from Scotland’s forward thinking homelessness legislation, as French politicians make moves to implement similar laws.

The number of complaints made against Edinburgh’s child care social workers has soared to nearly one a week, according to figures released today.

A former social worker who abused children in his care is appealing against his sentence. John Marshall was given a life sentence in November and told he would spend at least 12 years in jail. He admitted abusing 16 kids while he was a house parent in Glasgow care homes in the 70s.

This Christmas it is estimated that over 65 million unwanted presents were given, including millions of toys that will be consigned to the back of a cupboard, never to be seen again. Actress Fay Ripley (star of Cold Feet and Bon Voyage) is backing the Barnardo’s Bag it Up Toy Appeal, supported by Taylor Woodrow.

A ChildLine Scotland base is to be set up in Edinburgh and centres in Glasgow and Aberdeen expanded. Education Minister Hugh Henry announced funding of £500,000 for the project. He said: “ChildLine gets more calls than it can handle, some just can’t get through and get the support they need. This money will change that.”