Can Anyone Tell Me Why This Returns An Empty Value?

@Names is a query string passed in, I need to count the number of records as a  result of the below query/ 

 

Dim test As String

Dim sqlConnection3 As New SqlConnection("data Source=EQ-520-WEBSQLEXPRESS;Initial Catalog=CRDB.MDF;Integrated Security=True")

Dim cmd As New SqlCommand

 

Dim returnValue As Object

cmd.CommandText = "SELECT COUNT(ReqID) AS Expr1, LineManager FROM TblReqMain GROUP BY LineManager HAVING (LineManager = @Names)"

cmd.CommandType = Data.CommandType.Text

cmd.Connection = sqlConnection3

cmd.Parameters.Add("@Names", Data.SqlDbType.NVarChar)

sqlConnection3.Open()

cmd.Parameters("@Names").Value = test

If test = "" Then

Response.Write("An error occured")

Exit Sub

Else

returnValue = cmd.ExecuteScalar()

sqlConnection3.Close()

Label6.Text = "Number " & returnValue