Drink-related harm costs Scotland’s 32 local authorities £2bn each year, according to a Scots charity.

Improvement has been made at an Aberdeenshire care home after concerns were raised. Eastleigh in Peterculter was the subject of a critical report by the Care Commission last year.

Boredom among prisoners and the poor quality of recreation is a concern at Scotland’s only open jail, the Chief Inspector of Prisons has warned.

THE Royal Blind School is to close one of its campuses amid falling pupil numbers. The charity will merge all its facilities into a single campus at Canaan Lane in Edinburgh in 2014, closing the Craigmillar Park site it has operated since 1835.

A benign “Big Brother” house that watches over its old, disabled or vulnerable residents is undergoing trials in the UK.

Following a report from Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) showing that the number of people asking for food parcels from charities in Scotland has doubled in the past two years to 2,200, the Scottish Association of Social Work (SASW) has warned that the situation will get worse as welfare reforms bite ever harder.

SCOTLAND’S care watchdog has launched an investigation into allegations of bullying, harassment and intimidation at a home for ex serviceman in Dundee.

Social enterprises and support bodies from across the UK have warmly welcomed Scotland’s first Social Innovation Fair, held recently in Glasgow Caledonian University’s, Saltire Centre.