The Scottish Parliament

Question reference: S3W-34021

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 15 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-33563 by Keith Brown on 25 May 2010, what the comparable figures were for each of the five years prior to 2008-09.

Information on leavers destinations from Special Schools is not available before 2006-07.

In 2007-08, 330 (40.3%, from a total of 818) leavers from special schools entered an initial destination which was not employment, voluntary work, education or training. This compares to 7,991 (13.6%, from a total of 58,844) leavers from publicly funded secondary schools.

In 2006-07, 380 (39.4%, from a total of 965) leavers from special schools entered an initial destination which was not employment, voluntary work, education or training. This compares to 7,678 (13.4%, from a total of 57,364) leavers from publicly funded secondary schools.

Question reference: S3W-33564

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Current Status: Answered by Keith Brown on 11 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what vocational training is available for those (a) in and (b) who have recently left special education.

(a) Curriculum for Excellence is a curriculum for all young people, wherever they are learning.

All young people are entitled to opportunities to develop skills for learning, skills for life and skills for work. This includes the development of practical skills and an understanding of the world of work.

Those entitlements will drive the range of opportunities available to young people across all types of learning, including in special education.

(b) Curriculum for Excellence remains the overarching framework for learning for those young people who have left special education. The Get Ready for Work programme provides a national work-based training framework for 16 to 19-year-olds who require tailored support in order to access employment. The focus of this intervention is on offering generic work skills rather than training for specific employment sectors and is tailored to meet the needs of the individual, including those who have left special education, and reflect local economic drivers.

In addition, some vocational courses are available at further education colleges which have been designed specifically for young people who have recently left special education.

Question reference: S3W-34116

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Thursday, 03 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by John Swinney on 10 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is possible for a business to have part of its premises deemed not liable for rates if that space is being unused.

Question reference: S3W-34040

Asked by: Jamie Hepburn, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish National Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 01 June 2010
Current Status: Answered by Nicola Sturgeon on 8 June 2010

To ask the Scottish Executive what the incidence of newly diagnosed leukaemia has been in (a) Scotland, (a) NHS Forth Valley and (c) NHS Lanarkshire in each year since 2004, also broken down by data zone.

Data on the incidence of leukaemias are available for Scotland and NHS Board by calendar year at:

http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=i_cancer_leukaemias.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.