asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will issue a circular to special psychiatric hospitals when the Mental Health (Amendment) Bill has received the Royal Assent, asking them to inform patients transferred under a Section 72 direction, whose sentences have not ended, that they may apply to the Secretary of State asking for their cases to be referred to the mental health review tribunal.

Appropriate guidance will be given to any hospital which receives a prisoner on transfer under Section 72 of the Mental Health Act 1959 in respect of whom a restriction direction under Section 74 has also been made. (Prisoners transferred without a restriction direction have a right to apply to a tribunal even if their prison sentence has not expired.) With immediate effect, whenever a prisoner is transferred to hospital subject to a restriction direction, the receiving hospital will be requested by a letter from the Home Office to inform the patient that the Secretary of State will be willing to consider sympathetically any request which he may make for his case to be referred to a mental health review tribunal in the period before he acquires a statutory right to require that such a reference be made.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What progress is being made towards a settlement in Cyprus; and what developments have taken place regarding the tracing of missing persons in accordance with the resolution of 4th December 1981 of the 3rd Committee of the United Nations General Assembly.

The parties are now engaged in detailed discussion in the intercommunal talks, making use of the United Nations Secretary-General's evaluation tabled last November. Mr. Perez de Cuellar is to have meetings with President Kyprianou and Mr. Denktash next month. Procedural difficulties continue to prevent the Intercommunal Committee on Missing Persons from beginning investigations. We are giving full support to United Nations efforts to achieve progress on all aspects of the Cyprus problem.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will consider making a regulation to require that all books printed for public circulation should state clearly the year of publication.

No. If the noble Lord has some particular difficulty in mind perhaps he will let me know.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will provide subsidies to enable Iranian students to finish their courses in higher education in this country in cases where the Iranian Government have withdrawn grants for political reasons.

Academic institutions may, within the limits of resources available to them, waive fees in whole or in part to enable students in severe financial hardships to finish their courses. Her Majesty's Government have no plans to make special arrangements to support students from Iran.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether staff employed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, in particular advisory staff operating in the field, always report to the police all suspected cases of criminal activity that they come across while undertaking their official duties.

All officers of my Ministry, including those operating in the field, are aware of the need to be vigilant for any suspected criminal activity which they may come across in the course of their official duties. When related to the functions for which the Ministry has a responsibility, such activity is reported to the Ministry. In other cases, officers are expected to act in the same way as any other responsible citizen and report the matter to the police.House adjourned at five minutes before eleven o'clock.