CONSTRUCTION work is now complete on West Lothian’s new civic centre. And to mark the end of the building phase of the £53 million building, representatives from the organisations which will use the building, attended the official ‘topping out’ to mark the completion of the building stage.

A shortage of therapy services is leaving the victims of child sex abuse struggling to recover from their ordeal, a charity has claimed.

A new facility to help women and children affected by domestic violence has opened in Glasgow. It is the first of its kind in Scotland and will offer individual flats and communal facilities including a therapeutic room and creche.

One of Scotland’s biggest charities which cares for vulnerable children has threatened its 2,000 staff with redundancy, according to a trade union.

COUNCIL bosses have banned new admissions to a crisis-hit care home. West Dunbartonshire Council has also slashed the level of payments Dalmoak Castle receives for each resident placed in its care by the authority.

A LOOMING financial blackhole in a struggling Dumfries & Galloway council department appears to have narrowed, slightly. Social work bosses reckon they only overspent by £1.546 million on the 2008/09 financial year.

A senior social worker has apologised for a “catalogue of errors” that resulted in a criminal completing just two-and-a-half hours of community service because he had not been given any work.

Jessie Harvey, who is a kinship carer for her grandson, says social work departments are failing to provide adequate support to vulnerable children.

Chief Constable Colin McKerracher, of Grampian Police, has been challenged over the way his officers dealt with two care workers who were questioned over physical and sexual assault allegations.

AN ALLOA charity worker has been sacked after £12,000 to help the disabled went missing. The action was taken against Lesley Talbot, 42, after an audit at the Friends of ALLOA Centre last month.