A major change in the management of social work services in Dumfries and Galloway has been announced. It comes as department officials are bracing themselves for the publication of inspection reports next month. The department and the criminal justice social work division were put under the microscope in March and April. The authority has decided on major changes before the findings of the study by the new Social Work Inspection Agency (SWIA) are released. The local authority was the first in Scotland to be evaluated by the SWIA.

The Voluntary Sector Social Services Workforce Unit have published a free funding guide for the voluntary sector. ‘Navigating the Funding Streams 2’ is a guide to acquiring funding for learning and development in voluntary sector social services organisations. The guide contains:

A Shetland mother and social care worker has been named first ever Student of the Year of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI). Judges said that 49 year old Margaret Johnston had been a role model for the almost 6,000 students in the UHI network of colleges and research institutions. They said they were impressed by her academic and personal achievements, and her contribution to the student community as secretary of the Shetland branch UHI Students’ Association. Margaret – who left school at 15 with no qualifications – has completed a BA course in child and youth studies at Shetland College UHI.

Vulnerable children are being sent home to parents suspected of neglect and abuse because of a chronic lack of foster carers and other accommodation. At least seven local authorities have failed to immediately act on Place of Safety warrants issued by Children’s Panels during the past year. The legally binding orders are intended to force councils to remove young people from their homes for 21 days if they are considered to be in the most high-risk situations. However, it is understood dozens of children have been returned to their parents instead of being taken into care because councils have nowhere to put them. Child-protection professionals are growing increasingly concerned and frustrated over the failure to enforce warrants.

It’s the time of year when Scottish pupils are returning to school to learn and eventually gain good qualifications to help them get jobs. Earlier this month, we were inundated with success stories from around the country – pictures of ecstatic young people and their delighted teachers and parents as they opened their Standard Grades results and celebrated. What those stories don’t tell us is the truth of the lives of the children who are written off by the education system – the UK’s children in care. A new report by leading charity Barnardo’s highlights the shocking levels of disadvantage faced by these children, many of whom will struggle to gain even a single qualification.

A charity providing support to young people who have suffered from abuse has launched a website which aims to reduce incidents of violence. The Violence is Preventable project has been spearheaded by the award-winning Dundee charity Eighteen And Under. The organisation is aiming to use the site to share its expertise and experience with people and groups across the country. It is hoped the site will continue to be updated over the coming months.

A police investigation has begun into a mother’s complaint about a nursery’s treatment of her one-year-old daughter. Debbie Rye said Kyla had been strapped into a buggy for four hours on one of the hottest days by staff at the Ideal Start centre at Crookedholm, Ayrshire. She said the toddler suffered friction burns as she tried to free herself and had to stay overnight in hospital. The Care Commission said it had upheld the complaint and the nursery has declined to comment on the incident. Mrs Rye, from Kilmarnock, said she acted after she discovered the burn marks on Kyla on 26 July.

A Dumfries and Galloway councillor has said pensioners should sue the authority if they feel they have been wrongly charged for care. Labour administration member Willie Scobie claimed it could clarify the legal position on meal preparation fees under the free personal care programme. The council dropped its charging policy this year amid claims it breached national legislation. An investigation has started into the council’s potential cost liabilities. Mr Scobie said a legal challenge might be the only way to take things forward.

The lives of around 40,000 people with learning disabilities in Scotland have not improved in the last six years and in some cases have deteriorated, a major study has revealed. And equality of opportunity does not exist in the workplace, according to the research which was commissioned by Enable Scotland, the leading charity in the field. The organisation said that the survey had demonstrated that individuals with learning disabilities still did not have equal access to the things in life that most people aspired to and took for granted.

The owners of a care home where 14 elderly residents died in a fire will appear in court next month. Thomas Balmer, 59, wife Anne , 58, and their son Alan , 32, are charged with breaches of health and safety legislation. Their firm, Balmer Care Homes Ltd will face the same charges. The blaze at Rosepark care home in Old Edinburgh Road, Viewpark, Lanarkshire, on January 31, 2004, led to one of the highest fire death tolls in Scotland in recent years. Heavy smoke from the fire killed 14 of the 43 people staying at the home – 13 women and one man, with the oldest being 98.