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.

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.

{mosimage}A ten-minute test which identifies babies at risk of developing antisocial behaviour has been created by Scottish scientists. The psychological test, designed for women with children under six months of age, will enable health workers to pick out mothers who are failing to bond properly with their child. International studies have shown that such babies are at significantly increased risk of having borderline personality disorder as teenagers. Researchers said the tests would enable health workers to target mothers who needed more support. But children’s groups were cautious of using any test that could “stigmatise” young mothers. The tests, developed by the Family and Personal Relationships Laboratory at Heriot-Watt University and funded by the Scottish Executive’s Centre for Integrated Healthcare Research, come amid increasing pressure on ministers to tackle antisocial behaviour.

The public may be being put at risk from inmates released from Scotland’s leading prison for sex offenders, the service’s chief inspector has warned. In his report on Peterhead Prison, Andrew McLellan expressed concern that there was little evidence to show the Stop programme, the principal tool used to help long-term sex offenders address their behaviour, actually works.

A Scheme that provides funding to help children in Aberdeen affected by drug and alcohol abuse has been praised in a Scottish Executive report. The Partnership Drugs Initiative (PDI) finances a number of projects throughout Scotland that help tackle the issues surrounding drink and drugs.

A leading children’s charity has called for action to stamp out age discrimination against young people. NCH Scotland is urging the Scottish Parliament to change legislation which allows the “reasonable” physical punishment of children. It said it was wrong that adults enjoy greater legal protection from assault.

The Executive was yesterday accused of under-funding social work services for vulnerable children by more than £160 million this year. Professor Arthur Midwinter, the budget adviser to Holyrood’s finance committee, told MSPs yesterday that the Executive gave councils £255 million to provide services such as fostering, residential and day care and secure accommodation.

The Scottish Ambulance Service is creating 103 new frontline jobs in Glasgow and Lanarkshire in an attempt to improve response times. The £3.5m investment, which will increase staffing levels by 20%, is mainly being put into taking on new paramedics and technicians on ambulances. The service is also expected to take on up to nine extra ambulances.

A former charity fund-raiser who was at the centre of a multi-million-pound scandal is facing a jail term, after he appeared in court yesterday and admitted a £450,000 fraud charge. Anthony Freeman, 40, of Newlands, Glasgow, diverted the money from his ailing company and paid it into a Mediterranean bank account to keep it from creditors.