asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend to announce the results of the civic honours competitions held to mark Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee. [HL3297]

I am pleased to announce that Her Majesty has commanded that city status should be granted to Preston, Newport, Stirling, Lisburn and Newry and that Exeter should be honoured with the grant of a Lord Mayoralty to mark the Golden Jubilee.Before advising Her Majesty I consulted my right honourable friends the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and the Secretaries of State for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland on the applications relevant to their departments.On the advice of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, I exceptionally recommended, and Her Majesty agreed, that two towns in Northern Ireland should be granted city status on this occasion.I know that the unsuccessful applicants will be very disappointed not to have been honoured on such an important occasion. I can, however, assure them that the standard of all the applications was impressive and some were outstanding. The winners were particularly so and all deserve congratulations. The competitions have demonstrated a very positive attitude to Her Majesty's Golden Jubilee among towns and cities across the United Kingdom.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the exchange rate of sterling has been stable over the past five years. [HL3171]

The sterling effective exchange rate index appreciated from 82.3 in August 1996 to reach a peak of 113 in May 2000. Since November 2000, it has remained within the range of 102 to 108 and currently stands at 106.1.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will estimate the value of alcohol used at entertainments by government departments in the year 2001–02, giving United Kingdom and overseas figures separately; and whether they will reduce the amounts budgeted for this purpose by 25 per cent in the year 2002–03 and later years, and encourage other public authorities to do the same. [HL3072]

This information is not held centrally.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How much income charities in the United Kingdom have lost in the financial year 1999–2000 from the reduction in dividend tax credits on their ordinary and preference shareholdings; and [HL3176]How much income charities in the United Kingdom have lost in the financial year 2000–01 from the reduction to 17 per cent in dividend tax credits on their ordinary and preference shareholdings; and [HL3177]How much income they estimate that charities in the United Kingdom will lose in each of the financial years 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04 and 2004–05 from the phased reduction in dividend tax credits on ordinary and preference shares if their shareholdings and the total amount of net dividends declared on them remain as they were in the most recent financial year for which statistics are available. [HL3178]

The effect on the income of charities will depend on how they have managed their investments since 1997 when the reforms of corporation tax were announced. It is not possible accurately to measure the effect on charities as they will have rebalanced their portfolios and the economy in general should have benefited. To give time for the benefits of the reforms to feed through and for charities to make any necessary adjustments to their investment strategies the withdrawal was deferred from charities until April 1999 and is being phased in with a transitional relief payable over a further five years. Altogether, this compensation package is worth over £1 billion.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether a statement has been made under the Human Rights Act 1998 in connection with the Consolidated Fund (No. 2) Bill. [HL3335]

I have made a statement under Section 19(1)(a) of the Human Rights Act 1998 that in my view the provisions of the Consolidated Fund (No. 2) Bill are compatible with the convention rights. A copy of the statement has been placed in the Library of the House.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many judgments have been given by the European Court of Human Rights against Turkey in cases involving:

The registry of the European Court of Human Rights provides statistics on Court judgments. The Court registry can be contacted at: European Court of Human Rights, Council of Europe, F-67075 Strasbourg-Cedex.According to the registry's preliminary statistics, there have been 55 judgments against Turkey in cases which fall into the above areas, 18 on freedom of expression and 37 on the action of security forces. One case may include several violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. These violations can be divided up as follows:in four cases the destruction of property has led to violations of the right to the home in Article 8 or of the right of property in Article 1 of Protocol No. 1;in 24 cases the death or disappearance of a person has led to violations of the right to life under Article 2 either because of the disproportionate use of violence or because of the absence of adequate investigations by police and prosecutors;in 23 cases torture or maltreatment by police has led to violations of Article 3;in 18 cases criminal convictions have resulted in violations of the applicants' right to freedom of expression under Article 10.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What will be the forthcoming business in the Council of the European Union for March; and what are the major European Union events for the period between 31 March and August 2002. [HL3115]

See attached.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they plan to celebrate Europe Day in 2002 and to use the occasion as an opportunity to educate young people about Britain's role in the European Union. [HL3116]

The FCO has developed a new website, www.europeday.gov.uk, to raise awareness of Europe Day and of Britain's role in Europe. It is hoped that the website format and the style of the content will primarily appeal to teenagers and young adults. It will feature information about Europe Day and the European Union, details of Europe Day celebrations and a quiz to promote an interest in European affairs. The site was launched on 6 March 2002.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 7 February (

I refer the noble Lord to the Answer I gave on 7 February (Official Report, col. WA 111).

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have received any notice from the European Commission that it intends to take legal action over Section 72 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988; and, if so, what has been their response. [HL3027]

Yes. The department and the European Commission are in contact over this matter.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What have been the results of European Commission inspections of Brazilian slaughterhouses in the two years to January 2002; and [HL3020]Whether the European Commission has inspected poultry slaughterhouses in Thailand in the period October 1999 to February 2002; and, if so, with what results. [H L3021]

Copies of the Commission inspection reports are available on the Commission's website at the following address: http://www.europa.eu.int/ comm/food/fs/inspections/vi/reports/indexen.html.European Commission inspectors visited Brazil in May 2000 to look at fresh meat and meat product establishments approved to export to the EU. Four other inspection visits to Brazil have also been carried out in the last two years looking at foot and mouth disease (two abattoirs inspected), fresh meat and offal (three slaughterhouse and cutting plants inspected), meat products and meat preparations (two meat products plants, one casings plant and one minced meat/meat preparations plant inspected) and poultry meat (three slaughterhouses inspected). Shortcomings identified in a previous visit in 1999 (including standards of supervision in plants, animal welfare at slaughter, procedures for issuing export certificates, lack of clear instructions by the competent authority and traceability) had either been eliminated or were being satisfactorily addressed by May 2000.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by Lord Whitty on 27 February (

We are aware of 48 local authorities that have requested a public inquiry into foot and mouth disease to date. There have also been requests from other organisations and individuals. However, the issue of a public inquiry is often only one of a number of points raised in any correspondence, which results in these letters being categorised as "miscellaneous". There is, therefore, no central record held of the specific number of cases.The department has also received two petitions calling for a public inquiry.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which government department is responsible for detecting and intercepting the illegal import of bushmeat at Britain's airports; whether they will give the number of staff employed for this purpose at each of the airports at which commercial flights arrive from Africa; and how many seizures of such bushmeat have been made at each airport in 2002. [HL3197]

Responsibility for checks on imports of meat and meat products (not just so-called "bushmeat" which does not have a clear definition) at points of entry are the responsibility of the local or port health authority and it is for the appropriate local authority to deploy staff according to the volume and nature of products imported. Most of the staff also undertake a range of other duties so the number checking imports can vary from day to day. The total number of local authority staff employed at border inspection posts as at November 2001 was 196, comprising 97 environmental health officers, 48 official veterinary surgeons and 51 support staff.Where so-called bushmeat comprises meat from endangered species covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), HM Customs is responsible for enforcement. Customs also seizes other illegal meat discovered in Customs checks of passengers' baggage. In addition, State Veterinary Service staff are also empowered to deal with illegally imported animal products when they are found.Since April 2001, we have been advised of 1,142 seizures of illegally imported animal products of which 55 have been identified as so-called bushmeat.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will consider ways of segregating passengers arriving from particular areas at Britain's airports so that those responsible can more easily intercept illegal imports of bushmeat. [HL3198]

The Government have no plans to segregate passengers arriving at UK airports on grounds of nationality or where they have travelled from. But in line with the government White Paper, the Immigration Service is moving to more intelligence-led immigration control which will assist in identifying those engaged in the illegal importation of meat and meat products.Defra officials have met colleagues in other departments to assist in co-ordinating action across government to ensure that rules on the imports of all products are enforced effectively. The Immigration Service has instructed its officers at ports to be vigilant and, where appropriate, to refuse entry to the United Kingdom to those offenders identified as being engaged in this illegal trade.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What are their plans to license a Trailblazer Sector Skills Council to cover the hospitality, travel and tourism sector. [HL3093]

Five Trailblazer Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) were announced in December 2001. The expression of interest from the hospitality and tourism industry was not selected in this instance. However, non-selection as a Trailblazer SSC does not preclude a sector from submitting an expression of interest to form a SSC when a general invitation is extended to employers in the next few weeks.An expression of interest by employers will be considered by the Sector Skills Development Agency. If this meets initial criteria, then a period of up to six months will be agreed to develop a full SSC proposal. If successful, a SSC licence will be issued. A business adviser has been allocated to advise employers in the hospitality and tourism sector about the preparation of an expression of interest for this sector.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the Prisoners Learning and Skills Unit is developing a standard approach to screening young offenders for speech, language and communication difficulties; and what proportions of young offenders are now being screened. [HL3124]

All prisoners are offered a basic skills screening test during their induction into prison. Prisons will also be part of a pilot being developed by the Adult Basic Skills Strategy Unit, which will introduce a greater diagnostic element. More generally, we know that many offenders have learning difficulties and/or disabilities and we are working with prisons, including young offender institutions, to develop a national policy to support needs. We have no reliable information on the total number of prisoners with speech, language and communications difficulties but we are implementing new procedures to capture this kind of information.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What responses they have received to their consultation on the secondary schools performance tables value added pilot; and when these will be published. [HL3150]

There has been a good response to our evaluation of the 2001 secondary school performance tables value added pilot. We have received 126 responses to the questionnaire published alongside the tables, comprising 91 of the 200 schools who participated in the pilot; 26 local education authorities; and nine from assorted organisations and other interested parties. In addition, 125 schools attended a series of focus groups which examined in some detail the methodology used in the pilot.The main findings from the evaluation underpin our plans for the publication of value added measures for all schools in this year's secondary school performance tables, which are discussed in a consultation document to be published on 19 March. A full report of the evaluation, including all technical aspects, will be published by 31 March. Copies will be made available on request.

asked Her Majesty's Government:For what reasons schools were allowed to exclude pupils from the value added pilot to produce coverage percentages of less than 100 per cent; and which of these reasons will be permitted when the full tables are published. [HL3151]

A coverage indicator was published in the secondary school value added pilot performance tables to show the proportion of pupils that had been included in the calculation of the value added measures. There were several reasons why pupils might not have been included in those calculations. The main reason was that no prior attainment could be found for the pupil from which to measure progress to the next key stage of their education. This is predominantly an issue with pupils whose earlier education was not assessed through the National Curriculum—for example, those in independent schools which do not participate in National Curriculum assessment arrangements. Schools are not offered the option of choosing which pupils should or should not be included in calculations.Our proposals for the publication of value added measures for all secondary schools in this year's performance tables are set out in a consultation document to be published on 19 March. We propose no change to the rules tested in the pilot which govern the coverage of pupils in the value added calculations and intend not to publish the value added scores for schools where coverage falls below 50 per cent of pupils.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether it is permissible to list an historic ship under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990; and, if not, what are their plans to amend the Act accordingly. [HL3065]

An historic ship can only be listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 if it can be demonstrated that the vessel has a longstanding permanent home. Moveable objects cannot be added to the list, and there are currently no plans to amend the 1990 Act to allow such objects to be listed.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What steps they have taken, in the light of the events of 11 September, to install radioactivity measuring devices at ports of entry into the United Kingdom in order to monitor the imports of radioactive materials. [HL1771]

As a result of the attacks in America in September last year, reviews have been undertaken of the security arrangements we have in place to counter the new threats that now exist to this country. That has resulted in a number of new measures and initiatives. For obvious reasons I do not propose to give details of these.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made towards the recruitment of 1,000 civilians in the Police Service of Northern Ireland; and whether the employment of these civilians will result in a reduction of the number of police officers in the Police Service of Northern Ireland below the figure of 7,500. [HL2894]

The main purpose of civilianisation in the context of Patten is to free up police officers for operational duty. There are no plans to reduce regular numbers either by civilianisation or othewise below 7,500.The question of recruiting additional civilian staff is under consideration by the chief constable and will be addressed within the overall context of a human resource strategy requested by the Policing Board.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Privy Seal on 13 February (

I refer the noble Lord to my Answers of 10 December 2001 (WA 177), 10 January 2002 (WA 125) and 13 February 2002 (WA 166) about this matter. There is nothing further that can be usefully added.

asked the Chairman of Committees:Whether Members of the House of Commons who have offices there but have not taken the oath are allowed in any part of the House of Lords. [HL3283]

On 18 December 2001 the House of Commons decided to grant Members who have chosen not to take their seats the right to use the facilities within the precincts of that House. As a result of this decision the Members in question have been issued with security passes by the House of Commons authorities and as pass-holders they enjoy rights of access to large parts of the parliamentary estate, including the public areas of the House of Lords. However, the present situation is without precedent and there is no rule specifically concerning any further rights of access that might be granted to Members of the House of Commons who have not taken their seats. It will be for the Offices Committee to make a recommendation on this matter.