Six offers have been tabled for an axed north-east care home. The for sale signs went up at the Rose Innes property in Aberchirder in the summer after it became the first casualty of an Aberdeenshire Council review of its residential services for the elderly.

The British Medical Association (BMA) will today (Tuesday 31 October 2006) tell the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee that plans to introduce direct elections to health boards will do nothing to improve consultation among the public. Speaking in advance of his appearance before the Committee, as part of its consideration of the Direct Elections to Health Board Bill, Dr Dean Marshall, Chairman the BMA’s Scottish GP committee, outlined the reasons why the BMA opposes the Bill.

More than 1000 asylum seeker families in Scotland are facing forced deportation, potentially involving dawn raids, the Home Office said yesterday. The figure emerged during a visit to Scotland by Liam Byrne, the UK Immigration Minister, who was announcing the creation of two teams in Glasgow to speed up asylum applications.

A pilot domestic abuse court in Glasgow has dealt with 691 cases in its second year, according to new figures. The pilot, based in Glasgow Sheriff Court, deals with domestic abuse cases from the city’s south side.

Scottish society is at “a very dangerous tipping point”, because young people are being turned into hate figures by adults, according to a leading council official. The Rev Ewan Aitken, the leader of Edinburgh city council, said the nation’s youth was being “demonised” and that it was vital to address the misconception that most of them were up to no good.

A woman accused of trying to murder her baby son will discover tomorrow whether she has won a 12-year legal fight for justice. Regarded as a test case in Scots law, the landmark legal action challenges the controversial theory of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), which she believes has resulted in thousands of parents being wrongly accused of child abuse.

Two new asylum specialist teams are to be set up in Scotland to deal with cases north of the border, Immigration Minister Liam Byrne has said. His announcement comes ahead of talks in Scotland with the first minister.

Physiotherapy graduates are being left without jobs even though official figures show more than 28,000 people are waiting for an appointment.Half of those who qualified from Scottish universities this summer have been unable to find permanent jobs in the field, according to a survey published today. Cash shortages at health boards are among the factors blamed for the lack of junior positions.

For nine long years she fought the might of the Church of Scotland – a battle which took her to the highest court in the land. And yesterday Helen Percy was celebrating a substantial 11th-hour out-of-court settlement in her claim for sex discrimination against the Church.

A violent sex offender has made legal history by becoming the first person in the UK to be assessed for a new kind of sentence that will last the rest of his life. Colin Ross is now on the verge of being subject to intensive supervision while in jail and after his eventual release for the attempted murder of an American tourist in an attack which has left her in a coma.