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Written Answers

Thursday, 14th March 2002.

Golden Jubilee: Civic Honours

Lord Morgan 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]

The Lord Chancellor (Lord Irvine of Lairg): 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.

Sterling Exchange Rate

Lord Tebbit asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether the exchange rate of sterling has been stable over the past five years.[HL3171]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: 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.

Government Departments: Entertainment

Lord Avebury 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

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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]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: This information is not held centrally.

Charities: Dividend Tax Credits

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay 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]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: 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.

Consolidated Fund (No. 2) Bill: Human Rights Act Statement

Lord Grenfell 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]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: 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.

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Turkey: European Court of Human Rights

Lord Hylton asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many judgments have been given by the European Court of Human Rights against Turkey in cases involving:


(a) the destruction of property without compensation;


(b) death, torture and maltreatment in custody and serious personal injury generally;


(c) persons who have disappeared;


(d) obstruction and prosecution of defence counsel; and


(e) unwarranted restrictions on freedom of expression and publication.[HL2916]

The Minister for Trade (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean): 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.

European Union: Forthcoming Council Business

Baroness David 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]

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Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: See attached. March 2002 1—Brussels—Justice and Home Affairs Council (Evening) 1—Brussels—Internal Market, Consumers and Tourism Council 4—Brussels—Eurogroup (Evening) 4—Brussels—Environment Council 5—Brussels—ECOFIN 7—Brussels—Employment and Social Affairs Council 11—Brussels—Research Council 11–12—Brussels—General Affairs Council 15–16—Barcelona—European Council 18—Toledo—Meeting of Trade Ministers (Ministeral Informal) 18–19—Brussels—Agriculture Council 19—Toledo—EUROMED Trade Ministers Meeting 23–24—Brussels—Defence Ministers Meeting (Ministerial Informal) 25–26—Brussels—Transport and Telecom Council 27–28—Minterry, Mexico—Financing and Development Conference

The following are the principal events in the EU between 1 April and August 2002 (certain relevant events are also included; the list is based on the information available at the date of issue).

Date	Location	Event
April
5–6	Luxembourg	Migrations Council (ASEM Ministerial Informal)
8	Luxembourg	Fisheries Council
13–14	Luxembourg	ECOFIN (Ministerial Informal)
15–16	Luxembourg	General Affairs Council
22–23	Valencia	Euromed Conference
22–23	Luxembourg	Agriculture Council
25–26	Luxembourg	Justice and Home Affairs Council
27–30	Luxembourg	Agriculture Council (Ministerial Informal)
May
3–4	Brussels	Tourism Council (Ministerial Informal)
6	Brussels	Eurogroup (Evening)
7	Brussels	ECOFIN
9		Europe Day
13	Brussels	General Affairs Council and Defence Ministers meeting
17–18	Madrid	EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit
21	Brussels	Internal Market, Consumers and Tourism Council
23	Brussels	Culture and Audio-visual Council
24–26	Brussels	Environment Council (Ministerial Informal)
27–28	Brussels	Agriculture Council
30	Brussels	Development Council
30	Brussels	Education and Youth Council
31–1 June	Brussels	Transport Council (Ministerial Informal)
June
3	Brussels	Employment and Social Affairs Council
3	Brussels	Eurogroup (Evening)
4	Luxembourg	ECOFIN
6–8	Brussels	Foreign Affairs Council (ASEM Ministers)
6–7	Brussels	Industry and Energy Council
10–11	Brussels	General Affairs Council
10–11	Brussels	Agriculture Council
11	Brussels	Fisheries Council
13–14	Brussels	Justice and Home Affairs Council
17–18	Brussels	Transport and Telecoms Council
17–18	Brussels	General Affairs Council
21–22	Seville	European Council
24	Brussels	General Affairs Council (Evening)
24–25	Brussels	Environment Council
25	Luxembourg	ECOFIN
26	Brussels	Health Council
July
6	Copenhagen	ASEM Ministers for Finance
12	Brussels	ECOFIN
12–13	Kolding	Meeting of Employment and Social Policy Ministers (Informal)
15–16	Brussels	Agriculture Council
19	Brussels	Budget Meeting
19–21	Arhus	Environment Ministers meeting (Informal)
22–23	Brussels	General Affairs Council
August
31–1	Elisnore	Gymnich (Ministerial Informal)

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