asked Her Majesty's Government:Which Members of the House of Lords held Government appointments on 24 July; what these appointments were; and what remuneration was paid in connection with each appointment. [HL659]

Information on those (including Members of the House of Lords) who hold public appointments is available in the Public Appointments Directory on the Cabinet Office website at www.quango.gov.uk. Information on all public bodies, their chairs, their remuneration and that of members is available in Public Bodies 2000 (ISBN 0 11 430173 5), an annual publication, produced by the Cabinet Office and published by The Stationery Office.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they maintain lists of all those organisations obliged to report to Parliament; if so, whether they will publish the list; or, if not, whether they will in future maintain such a list. [HL694]

The Government do not maintain a list of organisations required to report to Parliament and have no plans to do so.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Morgan of Huyton on 5 July (

The international obligations referred to in the Written Answer of 5 July (WA 58) do include Article 4.1 of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When the appointment will be made of the UK member to the Committee of Experts for the Council of Europe European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. [HL807]

Her Majesty's Government are pleased to announce that the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe elected on 4 October Emyr Lewis as the UK member to the Committee of Experts for the Charter. The Committee of Experts acts as a monitoring mechanism examining the periodical reports submitted by parties on compliance with the Charter. Emyr Lewis is a fluent Welsh speaker, whose legal expertise and experience of minority language issues makes him an ideal representative for the UK on this committee.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they intend 1.0 publish the European Commission's White Paper on European Governance. [HL809]

Her Majesty's Government welcome the publication, on 25 July, of the White Paper. It is an important initiative in the effort to make the EU's institutions more efficient, effective, transparent and accountable. In particular the Government welcome the emphasis of the White Paper on practical ideas which can be implemented without the need for treaty change. A copy of the White Paper has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What arrangements are being made for a review of nuclear processing in the United Kingdom: and if such a review is being conducted, what are the terms of reference of the review. [HL709]

The Government have no plans to review their current policy on the management of spent nuclear fuel.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether free personal care should be available throughout Great Britain for those elderly people who need such care. [HL747]

The Government announced their views on free personal care in the annex to the NHS Plan which we published in July 2000, a copy of which is available in the Library. Issues relating to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are matters for the devolved administrations.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they will publish the Diabetes National Service Framework. [HL790]

We will be publishing a standards document this autumn, which will set out national standards to improve the quality of care for people with diabetes. The standards document will include the aims of the national service framework, the underpinning evidence and proposed service models. It will indicate the broad direction of travel over what will be a 10-year programme, starting in April 2003. We will publish the delivery strategy (including milestones) for the Diabetes NSF next summer. We shall also be setting up an implementation group this autumn, which will work with the National Health Service and other interested parties to develop a delivery strategy for the Diabetes NSF that takes account of the changing roles and responsibilities of NHS organisations emerging from Shifting the Balance of Power. The agreed delivery strategy, including milestones, service models, performance indicators and underpinning programmes, will be published next summer.

asked Her Majesty's Goverment:What was the outcome of the review, under Article 4 of the Council Directive 89/105/EEC, of the statutory maximum price scheme for generic medicines dispensed in the National Health Service in the community. [HL842]

We are today announcing our decision, taken in the light of consultation with interested parties, to roll forward unchanged the maximum price scheme for generic medicines. The scheme will remain in place pending decision on longer-term arrangements for the supply and reimbursement of generic medicines. The statutory maximum price will continue to be set on a United Kingdom-wide basis.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress has been made by the Service Families Task Force since July 2000 [HL715]

The Service Families Task Force is involved in a wide range of issues. Since July 2000 progress on the main issues has been as follows:

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have any plans or are giving consideration to any proposal to acquire or to develop small diameter bombs whether fixed-target or mobile-target character. [HL318]

The small diameter bomb (SDB) is an American programme, at the early stages of development. It is being designed principally as a precision guided munition for future aircraft with internal bomb carriages.The UK does not currently have any plans to commit to the SDB programme, which is unlikely to meet our required precision guided bomb in-service date of 2006. However, high level studies to assess the optimum weapon configuration for future aircraft and the precision guided bomb assessment phase will inform the debate as to the merits of such a programme.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When will the report of the Rural Task Force be published. [HL859]

The report is being published today. Arrangements have been made for copies to be placed in the Library of the House.