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Policing Board

Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many meetings of (a) the Northern Ireland Policing Board, (b) its sub-committees and (c) other events related to their membership each member of the board (i) was entitled to attend and (ii) actually attended. [170406]

Mr. Pearson: The information requested in respect of meetings of the Northern Ireland Policing Board is detailed in the following table.

In respect of the information relating to attendance at sub committees and other events I would invite my hon. Friend to write directly to the Chairman of the Policing Board for Northern Ireland at the following address.
 
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Professor Desmond Rea,

Chairman

Policing Board for Northern Ireland,

Waterside Tower,

31 Clarendon Road,

Clarendon Dock,

Belfast

BT1 3BG.

Attendance at Northern Ireland Policing Board meetings held during the period 4 November 2001 to 30 April 2004

Member	Number of meetings attended (possible)
Mr. Alex Attwood	28 (29)
Mr. Denis Bradley (Vice Chairman)	28 (29)
Viscount Brookeborough	25 (29)
Mr. Joe Byrne	27 (29)
Mr. Fred Cobain	28 (29)
Mr. Ivan Davis	5 (5)
Mr. Brian Dougherty	27 (29)
Mr. Sam Foster	23 (24)
Mr. Barry Gilligan	28 (29)
Mr. Willie Hay	26 (29)
Mr. Tom Kelly	21 (29)
Lord Kilclooney	18 (29)
Mr. James Leslie	5 (5)
Mrs. Pauline McCabe	28 (29)
Mr. Alan McFarland	24 (24)
Mr. Eddie McGrady	22 (29)
Mrs. Rosaleen Moore	25 (29)
Mr. Ian Paisley Jnr.	29 (29)
Prof Desmond Rea (Chairman)	29 (29)
Mr. Suniel Sharma	21 (29)
Mr. Sammy Wilson	29 (29)

Notes:
1. The total number of board meetings that it would have been possible for each member to attend is shown in brackets.
2. Mr. Ivan Davis and Mr. James Leslie left the board on 19 February 2002 and were replaced by Mr. Sam Foster and Mr. Alan McFarland on 20 February 2002.

School Transport

Mr. Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will amend the relevant legislation to reduce the number of pupils Translink is entitled to carry on each school bus journey. [171002]

Angela Smith: Home-to-school bus transport was the subject of an extensive inquiry instigated by the Northern Ireland Assembly's Environment Committee. The Department of the Environment is at present engaged in the initial stages of preparing a Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Committee's main recommendations, including those aimed at reducing the number of children permitted to travel on each bus. The way forward will be considered in the light of findings arising from this exercise.

Tourist Board

Mr. Trimble: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much capital grant has been paid by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board in each parliamentary constituency during the last five years. [170436]

Mr. Pearson: The total capital grant paid by the NITB in each parliamentary constituency during the last five years is as follows.
 
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Financial assistance paid to all tourism projects by constituency £

Constituency	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	Total
Across all constituencies and Cross border	5,295	76,143	54,740	34,842	500	171,520
Belfast, East	38,300	2,200	2,000	10,500	26,000	79,000
Belfast, North	213,256	232,515	15,529	5,000	2,000	468,300
Belfast, South	555,579	1,335,651	1,941,769	16,686	13,801	3,863,486
Belfast, West	3,461	20,000	741,500	20,000	0	784,961
East Antrim	4595	74,613	1,004,280	132,330	700	1,252,518
East Londonderry	58,975	680,564	424,041	394,880	30,114	1,588,574
Fermanagh and South Tyrone	490,529	513,891	1,529,299	216,671	3,000	2,753,390
Foyle	394,825	671,388	516,529	2,606,564	26,189	4,215,495
Lagan Valley	5,600	73,716	23,837	27,788	3,800	134,741
Mid Ulster	44,738	37,786	230,574	119,655	30,825	463,578
Newry and Armagh	160,642	387,311	1,442,727	1,749,394	46,693	3,786,767
North Antrim	386,518	952,746	1,060,944	119,013	10,573	2,529,794
North Down	52,106	43,939	12,527	10,700	26,000	145,272
South Antrim	1,290,105	52,856	93,735	98,842	2,000	1,537,538
South Down	1,165,554	2,335,992	821,966	286,707	15,555	4,625,774
Strangford	356,175	69,390	248,675	5,000	65,911	745,151
Upper Bann	70,185	2,059	46,136	13,806	500	132,686
West Tyrone	149,069	356,287	235,418	4,369	0	745,143
Totals	5,481,507	7,919,047	10,446,226	5,872,747	304,161	30,023,688

Triple Test (Pregnant Women)

Rev. Martin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what guidelines have been issued to each of the Northern Ireland health boards regarding the triple test for pregnant women. [171797]

Angela Smith: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer I gave him on 25 March 2004, Official Report, column 954W.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Social Security Appeals

Mr. Frank Field: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when he expects the appeal lodged with the social security commissioners by John Sheridan of Birkenhead to be heard. [171444]

Mr. Lammy: Mr. Sheridan's application to set aside the previous Commissioners' ruling of 6 January 2004, which deemed the application for Leave to Appeal to be Out of Time, is currently before a Social Security Commissioner for consideration of the grounds. A notice will be issued to all parties in the coming weeks.

19th Century Census

Mr. Borrow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs in which year MyFamily.com. Inc. is likely to make the census for (a) 1861, (b) 1871, (c) 1881 and (d) 1891 available on the internet. [171705]

Mr. Leslie: The census returns 1861–1891 for England and Wales are included in the non-exclusive licence granted by the National Archives to MyFamily.com. The timing of the public release of the material covered by non-exclusive licences is entirely a matter for the company concerned.

MyFamily.com has announced on its website that the 1891 Census returns for England and Wales are now available online. The 1871 Census returns are also in the
 
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early stages of release on their website. There is currently no information on its website relating to the release of the 1861 or 1881 Census returns.

Mr. Borrow: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs when the non-exclusive licence was granted to MyFamily.com Inc. to digitise the decennial population census return from 1841 to 1901; and at what rate a royalty charge is made for the licence. [171706]

Mr. Leslie: MyFamily.com was granted a non-exclusive licence agreement with the National Archives to digitise and distribute images of the enumerators' census returns for England and Wales 1841–1891 in June 2002, with a subsequent amendment in September 2002 to include the 1901 Census returns.

In line with HMSO guidelines, the royalty rate for such a non-exclusive licence is a flat 7 per cent. of net revenues.

Crown Courts

Mr. Swayne: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what guidance is given to Crown courts regarding the provision of facilities for the press; and if he will make a statement. [171573]

Mr. Leslie: The Court Standards and Design Guide sets out the accommodation requirements for courts and includes provision for a press assembly room at all Crown court centres for use by members of the press attending court. The number of courtrooms in the building determines the size of the room. Dedicated seating for members of the press is also provided within each courtroom. Additional facilities can be made available for the press where there is a specific need, such as when a court is hearing a case attracting high public interest.

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