A charity chief was yesterday given seven more days to repay hundreds of thousands of pounds owed to creditors but was told he still faced a jail sentence. The High Court in Glasgow heard that Tony Freeman, former head of Paisley-based Solutions Recruitment and Management Consultancy, had already handed over £210,000 a judge ordered him to repay.

Many of the most high-profile voluntary groups in Scotland stand to lose up to £20m following a shake-up in vital European funding. The organisations, which include the Prince’s Trust, lone-parent charity One Plus, and the Wise Group, are warning the change will lead to 1200 redundancies and the closure of projects serving 17,500 people.

Hundreds of autistic children are being denied a proper education in Scotland’s schools, according to a damning report by education watchdogs. Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (HMIe) found that most teachers in mainstream schools lacked a proper working knowledge of autism.

Council chiefs in Dumfries and Galloway have promised to reveal the cost of employing a troubleshooter to tackle failings in social services. Independent adviser Stephen Wilds, with a proven track record in the field, has been given a six-month contract.

Telling the public the whereabouts of paedophiles would drive offenders underground, senior police officers and social workers have warned. They were giving evidence to a Scottish Parliament sub-committee as part of an inquiry into sex offenders.

Today November 1st, see’s the merger of PHACE Scotland and Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) to create the new organisation THT Scotland.  This provides an exciting opportunity for people with HIV and for HIV services in Scotland.

A campaign is being launched with the aim of improving the education offered to children with autism. It is claimed many youngsters fail to receive what they need and are misunderstood and confused. The National Autistic Society launch came on the same day inspectors release a report on the standard of education for autistic children.

Senior police officers have warned that Scottish legislation to tackle kerb crawling will be virtually ineffective. They have written to MSPs saying that, without significant re-drafting, many men trying to buy sex on the street will continue to escape prosecution. The new Prostitution Bill is intended to prosecute people who buy sexual services in the same way as it does prostitutes.

{mosimage} Experts yesterday criticised a report that questions the use of methadone in drug abuse treatment and claims it helps fewer than 4% of heroin users kick their habit.

Professor Neil McKeganey, professor of drugs misuse research at Glasgow University, said that only 3.4% of drug users on methadone remained drug-free after three years. Residential rehabilitation has a higher success rate, he said.

He said: “If all you are doing is getting 3% of people off drugs after three years, you may say that it is a cheaper programme than residential rehabilitation, but is it justified when it gets so few people off?”

Dundee is beating national targets for reducing youth crime. A report to the city council’s social work committee on Monday highlights youth justice work for 2005-06 and the efforts that are being made to reduce youth crime in the city.