Almost half of men who pay for sex already have a partner, according to a report. A study by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde also revealed that men “playing away” on holiday are twice as likely to have unprotected sex as those paying for sex at home. The research, which appears in October’s Sexually Transmitted Infections Journal, surveyed more than 2,600 men attending the Sandyford sexual health clinic in Glasgow between October 2002 and February 2004.

A Councillor has called on Scottish ministers to examine an independent report – which states that local authorities are facing a projected £161million shortfall in children’s social work services – as a matter of urgency. Aberdeen City Council’s community services convener, Irene Cormack, said the situation would make it more difficult to recruit social workers and offer a high-quality service to vulnerable youngsters.

Detectives are preparing to question a man after the “horrific and very, very violent” death of a 23-year-old Polish student in Glasgow. A murder inquiry is under way following the discovery of Angelika Kluk’s body in St Patrick’s church on Friday. Peter Tobin, who worked as a handyman at the chapel, was arrested on Saturday by the Metropolitan Police on an unrelated matter.

An exercise in robbing Peter to pay Paul. That is one way to interpret figures, obtained by The Herald, which show money is being taken from one part of the social work budget of Scottish local authorities to shore up another section. The cash involved might not be substantial compared with the overall annual budget – perhaps £50m out of a total of more than £2bn – but the transfer is representative of a bigger problem afflicting at least one of the core areas of responsibility of councils. This is the care of children at risk.

Cash destined for pensioners is being used to plug a black hole in spending on Scotland’s most vulnerable children, it was revealed last night. A new report obtained by The Herald shows councils are squeezing budgets for the elderly and other vulnerable adults to help meet a shortfall of more than £160m a year for their core social work services for children. The report, written by Professor Arthur Midwinter, the country’s most respected expert in local government finance, has infuriated the Scottish Executive.

A world-renowned Scottish doctor yesterday criticised health chiefs for refusing to offer pregnant women ultrasound checks that could detect a condition which can kill healthy babies within minutes of birth. Professor Stuart Campbell, who provoked debate with his 4-D scans showing babies “walking in the womb”, said it was a “scandal” that nothing was done by the NHS to detect vasa praevia. It claims the lives of about one in 3,000 babies who bleed to death in the womb.

The outgoing governor of Inverness Prison has said it has been forced to revert to practices of 200 years ago. Alastair MacDonald said overcrowding meant prisoners were being sent to jails far from their families. He also said 30% of those coming through the gates could not read or write and half of them had not reached primary six academic level.

Everyone must continue to be vigilant and report any concerns about children who may be at risk of being abused, Scotland’s Deputy Education Minister Robert Brown has said. He was speaking as statistics showing an increase in the number of children referred to child protection committees were published. The increase is thought to be down to more effective identification of children who need help.

A coalition of more than 20 Scottish charities is calling on the Scottish Executive to create a fund to help them deal with a new law set to be enforced early next year. The charities say that new requirements to security check staff and volunteers working with children and vulnerable adults will leave the voluntary sector millions of pounds out of pocket. It is also feared that confusion about the new laws could put members of the public off volunteering for local groups and charities.

The Scottish Executive has pledged a further £9m to its international Development Fund which the Executive say will help Scottish-based groups with their work in countries like Malawi, Ethiopia and Namibia. The programme was announced by International Development Minister Patricia Ferguson, who said demand for funding was sky high. A total of 24 projects in Malawi, Swaziland, Ethiopia, Namibia and the areas affected by the tsunami and the Asian earthquake will receive £3.1m over the next three years.