The kirk in Caithness has taken up cudgels on behalf of elderly people in the Highlands who need residential care. Community care managers in Highland Council have been instructed to make supported placements in care homes run by the local authority, and not those in the independent sector.

Aberdeen City Council has drawn up detailed plans to help improve the support it gives to children in care. It is hoped that the upcoming “corporate parenting charter” will help protect looked-after children and improve their chances of staying in education.

Referrals and calls from the public about at-risk children have soared in the wake of high-profile child death cases, figures show. Several council social work departments attributed the rise to concerns about alcohol and substance abuse.

THE work of South Lanarkshire social work employees was honoured in a recent awards ceremony. Council headquarters in Hamilton was the venue for the 12th annual Social Work Awards hosted by TV presenter and columnist Kaye Adams.

The number of foster carers in Aberdeenshire is to double over the next two years after the council’s social work arm reset targets to increase the number of people trained to work with the region’s most vulnerable children.

Widening participation in social work education will be the central theme of a one-day event for all those connected with social work practice on Wednesday 30 September in Hamilton.  Service users, carers, employers, policy makers and education providers are invited to take part to explore successful practice and strategies for future action.

A scheme offering homeless people and former drug addicts a chance to work with others in similar situations has proved successful in South Lanarkshire.

Highland Council social work chiefs have been accused of using elderly people moving into care homes as pawns in a drive to head off a projected £3.4million-plus overspend.

SOCIAL work chiefs have defended their decision to allow four children who were described as living like “street urchins” to be returned to their parents.

The number of adults falling victim to verbal, sexual abuse and financial exploitation in Edinburgh has increased by more than 70% in six months.