The machetes are worst. As heavy as they are sharp, they cleave cheeks and split jaws – mash faces. Victims never look the same again, their twisted smiles revealing the true scale of Scotland’s toll of violent crime.

Prescription charges in Scotland rose by 20p to £6.85 per item yesterday, the same day the Welsh Assembly scrapped the charges altogether. There were fresh calls yesterday for charges to be scrapped across the NHS in the wake of the Welsh decision.

Councillors have been told that more specialist social workers are required if weaknesses identified in child protection services in the Scottish Borders are to be addressed. But any shortcomings are more than outweighed by strengths, according to a glowing report from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIe).

Voluntary organisations across Fife will bear the full brunt of Council cost-cutting with funding awards slashed in a bid to save £250,000. In the past years, grants for vital voluntary organisations and charities have steadily increased, however, this year they will remain at the same level as 2006/7 to save money.

Scotland is facing a care crisis among the elderly with a number of private businesses threatening to close homes in a dispute over funding.

A vulnerable Inverness man who was supposed to receive daily support lay dead for up to a week before his body was discovered, it has been claimed. David Ireland (32) lived in “supported” accommodation and was meant to receive daily visits from carers.

Another cutback has emerged at Fife Council after staff revealed a primary education support service is to be slashed. The local authority was forced to admit this week that the Early Intervention Project – aimed at boosting numeracy and literacy skills in P1 and P2 youngsters – is to be cut.

Councillors in Aberdeen are determined to have their say on the future of a charity’s carers support centre. Cross-party members have voiced concerns that VSA’s decision to close down the “well used and highly visible” service in Belmont Street and relocate it to Castle Street is not the right move.

A mother wrongly convicted of killing two of her babies is helping a Scot seeking to overturn a conviction of assault against a child. Angela Cannings, originally from Salisbury, Wiltshire, who spent 18 months in prison before her life sentence was quashed, launched a foundation yesterday to support other families who have suffered miscarriages of justice.

Parents of autistic children have reported feelings of anxiety and guilt over whether they should give their children the MMR vaccine, a new study has found.