A grant of £300,000 has been given to the Piping Centre. No grant has been made to the College of Piping.

We remain committed to encouraging the widest possible participation in lifelong learning. We are actively considering what future arrangements might be put in place to support individual learning. I expect to be able to say more about this later in the spring.In the meantime, learndirect scotland continue to provide advice for learners on freephone 0808 100 9000. Individual Learning Account (ILA) holders with ILA-related enquiries may contact a dedicated freephone helpline on 0800 100 1090.

Learners who enrolled in learning before the scheme's closure will be able to proceed, if their learning starts before the end of this month. Letters have gone to all account holders explaining the reasons for the closure and providing them with details of a dedicated freephone helpline, 0808 100 1090, should they require further advice.

At 7 January 2002, 253,952 people held Individual Learning Accounts. 116,465 of these have engaged in ILA-assisted learning.

No specific guidance is given to the Student Loans Company on the use of tracing companies. The company is responsible for following established procedures on inviting tenders for the subcontracting of its debt recovery function.

I have not received any representations concerning difficulties in contacting the Student Loans Company. The company has specific performance targets on answering telephone calls and acknowledging and responding to complaints, its performance against which is recorded in the company's annual report. I am aware that callers to the Student Awards Agency for Scotland may sometimes refer to difficulties in contacting the company by telephone.

During 2002-03, two additional linear accelerators will be purchased and installed at the Beatson Oncology Centre, funded by the Scottish Executive's radiotherapy equipment modernisation programme. This will bring the total number of linear accelerators to 10, which is 3.9 per million population.

The following table shows, by NHS board areas for the years 1994-98, the number of patients diagnosed with cancer and percentage of the population served by Scotland's five cancer centres. However, it should be noted that oncology services are provided through regional managed clinical networks which transcend NHS board boundaries.

Cancer centre area	Period of diagnosis	Number of cases	Percentage of population
Aberdeen (Grampian, Orkney and Shetland)	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998	2,607	0.45
		2,678	0.47
		2,579	0.45
		2,594	0.45
		2,668	0.47
Dundee (Tayside)	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998	2,028	0.51
		2,125	0.54
		2,231	0.57
		2,100	0.54
		2,140	0.55
Edinburgh (Lothian, Fife, Borders, Dumfries and Galloway)	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998	6,906	0.51
		6,990	0.51
		7,461	0.54
		7,037	0.51
		6,632	0.48
Glasgow (Argyll & Clyde, Ayrshire & Arran, Forth Valley, Glasgow and Lanarkshire)	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998	12,637	0.49
		12,522	0.49
		13,411	0.53
		12,983 12,550	0.51 0.49
Inverness (Highland, Orkney and Shetland)	1994 1995 1996 1997 1998	1,189	0.50
		1,141	0.48
		1,192	0.50
		1,312	0.55
		1,422	0.60

Notes: 1. 1998 is the most recent year for which complete cancer registration information is available.2. There are likely to be cross-boundary flows (for example of Dumfries & Galloway patients seen in Glasgow; Fife residents seen in Dundee) which have not been accounted for in these calculations.

The information requested is not held centrally. NHS trust chief executives at the acute hospital trusts which host Scotland's cancer centres will be able to provide information locally - Grampian University Hospitals NHS Trust, Tayside University Hospitals NHS Trust, Lothian University Hospitals NHS Trust, North Glasgow University Hospitals NHS Trust and Highland Acute Trust. Contact details are available online at: www.show.scot.nhs.uk.

Officials from the Enterprise and Lifelong Learning Department and the Student Awards Agency for Scotland meet regularly with officials at the Student Loans Company. Complete details of all meetings held between the department and the company over any particular two-year period could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.