As a mother of two, Lucy McTernan is naturally supportive of plans to check the backgrounds of those who work with children. As a member of the management board of an after-school club run by the parents, however, she knows that today’s proposals could be a death knell for many small voluntary organisations.

Fifty criminals a month are serving less than one-seventh of their prison sentence because of a legal loophole. The Scotsman has learned that abuse of early release rules is happening on a massive scale among fine defaulters, with more than 600 offenders last year spending less than 24 hours behind bars when they were ordered to spend seven days in prison.

{mosimage} The number of Scots exposed to racist behaviour is increasing, a government survey has found – despite a four-year, multi-million-pound campaign by the Scottish Executive to combat intolerance. An Executive report examining the efficacy of its £3.3 million anti-racism marketing campaign found 42 per cent of Scots claim to have been “exposed” to racism, either as victim, witness or perpetrator – 7 per cent higher than in 2001, the year before the campaign’s launch.

Universities, care homes, colleges and the Royal British Legion as well as private schools are among nearly 1,000 organisations facing tough new tests to prove they deserve their lucrative charity status. Scotland’s charity watchdog will today unveil plans to demand evidence from bodies as diverse as NHS endowment trusts, independent schools, miners’ welfare societies and students’ unions that they comply with laws introduced last year by the Scottish Parliament.

A network of nutrition champions tasked with improving meal times in Scotland’s care homes has been unveiled. Inspection body the Care Commission is to recruit 100 nurses nationwide to tackle poor appetite and nourishment among elderly residents. The staff will examine problems such as how to revive interest in food and how best to help people who struggle to feed themselves. They will be trained to introduce changes to care homes where they work, pilot new ideas on the ground and share lessons learned with other establishments.

Loopholes in legislation providing free personal care to Scotland’s elderly must be closed to prevent councils operating waiting lists and rationing services, MSPs have demanded. The call came as it emerged that 24 local authorities were experiencing delays in assessing people to see if they were eligible for care or actually delivering help to over-65s with tasks such as washing and dressing. Lewis Macdonald, the deputy health minister, conceded there were “issues” over the implementationof the policy, as he faced questions from the parliament’s health committee.

Police said yesterday they had smashed Scotland’s biggest drugs ring after detaining 11 people in a series of dawn raids in the west of the country and Amsterdam. Fifteen properties were searched during the operation, which was the culmination of a three-year international drug-smuggling investigation.

Police in Tayside and Strathclyde have joined forces with more than 50 licensed premises to warn young people of the dangers of cocaine use. Bar staff and management will be handing out information leaflets on the subject during the drive. The move, aimed at 18 to 26-year-olds, also aims to highlight the availability of drug support services.

Fears have been raised that a popular treatment for severe acne could cause depression in patients. New research shows the drug Roaccutane produces depressive behaviour in mice when given to the rodents. Roaccutane – already linked to claims it caused depression and suicide in patients – left the mice immobile for longer periods than normal during stress tests. But scientists said more research was needed to establish whether the drug produced the same reaction in humans.

Shetland Islands Council is to cut staff and services while increasing charges in community care as it struggles to bring its spending habits into line. Services to the elderly and disabled dominated a package of savings agreed by councillors, as they endeavour to meet their target of five per cent cuts across the board for the whole of the authority. It emerged the main reason for some of the cuts was the lack of key staff rather than shortage of available cash. However members were warned the authority would have to “lever in” huge sums of money into social work in the face of an ageing population and falling school rolls.