HC Deb 25 March 2002 vol 382 c683W
Tim Loughton

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what arrangements her Department has made to celebrate(a) St. Patrick's Day, (b) St. George's Day, (c) St. Andrew's Day and (d) Her Majesty the Queen's Golden Jubilee; and how her Department celebrated St. David's Day. [42293]

Ms Hewitt

[holding answer 11 March 2002]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport gave to the hon. Member for South Suffolk (Mr. Yeo) in response to his round robin question of 30 January, 11 February 2002, Official Report, columns 58–59W.

The DTI, along with other Government Departments, flies the Union flag from its buildings on certain days of the year known as 'named days' when the Union flag must be flown from Government buildings. The days include St. David's Day and St. George's Day, but not St. Patrick's Day.

Consideration is being given to the Union flag flying protocol for the Jubilee. However, the Union flag will fly on Coronation Day (2 June) as this is a 'named day'.

An additional bank holiday will take place on Monday 3 June 2002 to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee and, to create a two-day holiday period, the spring bank holiday, which would normally take place on 27 May, has been moved to Tuesday 4 June.