Chamber and committees

Evidence from the 1996 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) suggested that around 800,000 (23%) working age adults in Scotland have low levels of literacy. The Scottish Government has set in hand a further wide ranging survey to update these findings. The results will be available in spring 2010. Currently, the Scotland Performs website measures literacy and numeracy through the use of a proxy indicator. That indicator has shown a steady decrease in the percentage of adults with SCQF Level 4 qualifications or below, to 15% in 2008.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

A speech and language therapist is contracted from Forth Valley Health Board to work 14 hours in HMYOI Polmont. There is no provision in any other prison.

I have asked Mike Ewart, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service, to respond. His response is as follows:

The Scottish Prison Service does not assess every prisoner for communication impairment or difficulties with literacy and numeracy and therefore do not hold the information requested.

It is expected that the study will be published early in December 2009. Transport Scotland has written to you on 29 October with an update and will send you a copy of the final report when it is available.

Twenty-nine of the 32 local authorities offer an organic waste collection from the kerbside. In addition, 13 local authorities collect food waste either with other organic waste or collected separately.

It is the responsibility of each local authority to determine what collection systems are put in place. Food waste trials in Scotland have been supported by the Scottish Government in seven local authority areas. The Scottish Government is supporting councils who wish to introduce food waste collections with assistance from Remade Scotland, Waste Aware Scotland and Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

All local authorities provide facilities at household waste recycling centres for householders to deposit organic garden waste, however some households may not be conveniently placed to utilise these facilities. At the present time no provision is made for the separate collection of food waste at these facilities.

Preventing food waste, where possible, is the most environmentally sustainable approach. Prevention saves householders money and helps to reduce greenhouse gases associated with the production, transportation, storage and disposal of food.

Some food waste, however, is unavoidable, for example tea bags, fruit skins and vegetable peelings. Where possible, householders should compost these types of material at home. For households that cannot compost at home, or for the types of waste that it is recommended not to compost at home, such as chicken carcasses and cooked food waste, householders should utilise the food waste collection services where they are provided by local authorities.

This question was answered in the Chamber. The answer can be viewed in the Official Report using the following link:

http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-09/sor1001-01.htm

Seven employers in the three Ayrshire local authority areas have registered through the Adopt an Apprentice scheme. Across the scheme the majority of employers are in the construction sector and hundreds of redundant apprentices have now been placed with new employers.

Local Authority	No. of Employers
East Ayrshire	4
North Ayrshire	1
South Ayrshire	2
Total	7

 

Since the launch of Adopt an Apprentice scheme on 10 June 2009 information about the scheme has been made available through a number of newspaper articles at both national and local level. Information is also available on websites such as Skills Development Scotland http://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/redundancy and the Scottish Government http://www.scotland.gov.uk/scotaction.

The Scottish Government continues to work with key partners to build on their communications mechanisms to promote the Adopt an Apprentice scheme to employers. We are working closely with sector skills councils, in particular ConstructionSkills, to promote this new scheme to employers and the Scottish Chambers of Commerce and the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils will shortly be circulating details of the Adopt an Apprentice scheme to their employers.