 The next item of business is consideration of business motion 10440, in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick, on behalf of the parliamentary bureau, setting out revisions to the business programme for this week. Any member who wishes to speak against the motion should press a request to speak but now, and I call on Joe Fitzpatrick to move motion number 10440. No members ask to speak against the motion, therefore I now put the question to the chamber. The question is that motion number 10440, in the name of Joe Fitzpatrick, be agreed to. Are we all agreed? The motion is therefore agreed to. The next item of business is topical questions. Question 1, Liam McArthur. To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on reports that people with serious criminal convictions are teaching in schools. The Scottish Government is determined that appropriate steps are taken to ensure that our children are safe and secure, and that parents have confidence in the arrangements in place for safeguarding their children. The General Teaching Council for Scotland has been an independent body since April 2012, and it is for the GTCS to satisfy themselves about the credentials of teachers working in Scotland. It is important that the GTCS keeps its procedures under review to ensure that parents can be confident about the safeguards in place. Liam McArthur. I thank the minister for his responses. He will be aware that figures have revealed that around 400 staff since 2007 with a criminal record have been teaching in our schools. Now, while a number of those convictions are for offences that have nothing to do with their roles as teachers, there are a number that I think will cause concern amongst parents, pupils and the wider population, some of a sexual nature, some in relation to assault. Notwithstanding what he said about the independence of the GTCS, is that something that he is prepared to consider discussing with the GTCS to see if those rules need further clarification in certain offences would result in a debarring of the individuals from the teaching profession? The member is right to look at the issue as something that is worthy of serious discussion. I have sought information from the GTCS who are independent of political control, but since he mentions figures, it is important to put the figures in some context without reducing by any means the vital issue to figures. There has been some discussion in the press of a figure of around 400 criminals, including sex offenders, working in our schools. I should say what the figures are having sought them from the GTCS. In the year 2011-12, 105 of 113 cases dealt with related to road traffic offences such as speeding. In 2012-13, 146 of 158 dealt with road traffic offences. I do not wish to trivialise road traffic offences, but it is also worth saying that in that two-year period—it is the only period for which reliable figures exist—there were two that dealt with matters relating to sexual convictions. Again, I do not trivialise those, but neither of those involved either a child or a non-consenting adult. One of them, in fact, dealt with an incident in 1966 where the teacher concerned had had sex aged 17 in contravention of what was then the law. We should take this whole issue extremely seriously, as the GTCS does, but it is also important to put those figures in some context. Mr MacArthur? I thank the minister for that further clarification. It is entirely sensible when discussing the issues to put in context the fact that we are talking about a small minority across a workforce that does such excellent work with our children and young people. Nevertheless, there have been a small number of incidents, one in relation to an assault that led to a community service order, which was running coincidentally with that individual remaining within the profession. Again, notwithstanding the independence of the GTCS, will he commit to having further discussions with them about whether or not those rules need to be slightly tightened up in light of those figures? In terms of what the GTCS's procedures are, it is for them to bring forward any new procedures that they may wish to do. I hope that I have reassured the member that some of the figures in circulation have tended towards an inaccurate impression of the situation. The GTCS and the Government take extremely seriously the issue of child safety. I believe that the 71,000 people who are registered in Scotland with the GTCS do so, too. Thank you. That ends topical questions. The next item of business is a statement by Angela Constance.