asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will reconsider their policy on Iranian citizens asking leave to remain in the United Kingdom, who cannot satisfy the requirements of Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on Refugees, in view of the evidence submitted to them on the widespread and indiscriminate use of torture and murder in Iran, and whether they will give such persons exceptional leave to remain in the United Kingdom without restrictions on employment, for a year at a time, as was done with those who fled the conflict in Cyprus in 1974.

We have the situation of Iranians in the United Kingdom under continual review and are always prepared to consider individual exceptional cases on their merits.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether any restrictions or prohibitions are being imposed on the subjects of advertisements authorised for display on the outside of London taxi-cabs and, if so, what they are.

The Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police considers each proposed design of advertisement on its merits in the light of the British Code of Advertising Practice. In addition, he has made it clear that among those that he will not approve are the following:

• Advertisements with political, ethnic, religious, sexual or controversial texts;
• Advertisements for escort agencies, gaming establishments or massage parlours;
• Advertisements displaying nude or semi-nude figures;
• Advertisements mentioning the driver of the cab (e.g. "the driver will take you to …… ");
• Advertisements likely to offend public taste.

asked Her Majesty's Government:In view of Iran's refusal of the UN Security Council proposal for a cease-fire in the war with Iraq, whether they will confirm that they are urging the Secretary-General to send a representative to Teheran and Baghdad to discuss means of bringing the war to an end, with instructions to report back urgently to the Security Council for consideration of further action.

On 12th July, the United Kingdom's Permanent Representative at the United Nations asked the United Nations Secretary-General to consider urgently sending a representative to Teheran and Baghdad, with a view to advising the Security Council what further action it might take to bring an early end to the fighting.

asked Her Majesty's Government;Whether they consider the practice of catching and then dumping fish at sea, such as the 260 boxes of good quality haddock dumped at Stornoway in February this year, contributes to the sensible management of fish stocks in United Kingdom waters.

The responsibility for aligning market supply and demand rests with fish producer organisations established under EC law. Under the EC market support system, any fish which fails to realise the relevant minimum price is taken off the market and, in order to avoid disruption of the market, must not subsequently be sold for human consumption. The proportion of fish offered for sale and withdrawn is small and most is sold for reduction to fishmeal, which benefits agricultural output, or for pet food. Less than 1 per cent. of fish landed is returned to the sea, and then only where there are particular local circumstances. At the time of the incident at Stornoway, the local fishmeal plant was closed for repair and maintenance.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will allow members of the public to inspect the documents on the Falklands, borrowed from the Public Record Office, in the library of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

The facilities in the Library of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are not adequate to offer access there to the public to old records which happen to have been returned for use in the department.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What changes in the coding procedure for primary diagnosis of alcoholic psychosis took place in 1979, and what were the numbers of admissions of males and females respectively to mental illness hospitals and units in 1979 and 1980 respectively of persons who would previously have been classified under this heading but are now committed under another heading.

Prior to 1979 the Mental Health Inquiry used a coding procedure based on the Eighth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD8). Coding according to the Ninth Revision (ICD9) was introduced in 1979. Several of the changes involved will have affected the numbers of cases in which the diagnosis was coded as alcoholic psychosis.They include:

asked Her Majesty's Government:What resources the Employment Medical Advisory Service has devoted to the examination of alcohol as a cause of industrial accidents.

The Employment Medical Advisory Service has not devoted any of its scarce resources to specific studies of the relationship between alcoholic intake and industrial accidents. However, the Health and Safety Executive's Factory Inspectorate has recently decided to support a 2-year research project at Glasgow University which will seek, inter alia, to determine the relationship between alcohol and accidents at work.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the responsibility of the Health and Safety Executive in formulating advice to industry on alcohol abuse, and formulating codes of good practice for dealing with the effects of such abuse.

The Health and Safety Executive has general responsibilities for enforcing legislation concerning the protection of people at work and for providing advice and disseminating good practice on the health, safety and welfare of people at work.The executive recognises the dangers of alcohol abuse at the place of work. To this end it published in 1981 in partnership with the health departments and the Department of Employment, a booklet entitled

asked Her Majesty's Government:What accounts the armed services have published on problem drinking by service personnel and the efforts made to deal with it.

Extensive educational material is available to servicemen warning them of the dangers of excessive drinking; and commanding officers are advised of preventive measures. All the services run comprehensive programmes of prevention and treatment. The following accounts have been published:The Treatment of Alcoholics in the Military Context (

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will state the rules which they intend shall apply from October to NHS treatment of overseas students (who are not beneficiaries of reciprocal arrangements) with particular reference to the following categories, giving where possible the numbers likely to be affected:—

An overseas student to whom the arrangements for European Community and Reciprocal Agreement countries do not apply will be liable to charges for NHS hospital treatment.Absences of up to three months during that period are ignored. Thus a student who has completed one calendar year in this country will be exempt for any further period he remains in this country unless he interrupts his stay by more than three months.As a transitional arrangement, any student engaged on a course of study on or before 1st October will be exempt. This exemption will continue for the remainder of his course and to one month after its conclusion; and such a student would remain exempt even if he interrupted his stay in the United Kingdom by more than three months.Students sponsored by the British Council or Government departments are not exempt, but charges for normal NHS treatment will be paid by the sponsoring body. Other than this, no special provision is made for students from Commonwealth countries or "poorest countries". The number of students in any of these categories is not known.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the cause of the very strong unpleasant smell which pervades a stretch of the M4 motorway outside Slough; whether motorists must accept it as a permanent affliction; and if so, why.

Unpleasant smells occasionally reach a stretch of the M4 motorway outside Slough from an adjacent sewage treatment works.Thames Water Authority, the operators of the works, are already well aware of the problem, and have in hand low-cost ameliorative measures but, in view of the considerable cost, have no immediate plans for major reconstruction which could be expected to eradicate the problem.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend to borrow any documents from the Public Record Office concerning the dispute with Venezuela on sovereignty over the Essequibo.

It is not possible to foresee when Government departments may need to use old records.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will list the documents sent to schools on politically controversial issues such as nuclear weapons by government departments since 1980 and whether they will cease this practice in view of the condemnation of it expressed by resolution at the conference of local authorities at Sheffield on 15th July 1982.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office prepared three publications on international arms control and disarmament negotiations for the public, particularly non-governmental organisations: The Balanced View, Peace and Disarmament and Arms Control and Disarmament. The material is of a balanced and factual nature.At the suggestion of representatives of the teaching profession, and after informing local educational authorities, a set of the material was circulated to the heads of secondary schools and colleges. It is, of course, for them to decide whether or not to use it. We shall continue to offer material of this sort to the public, and to the schools through the recognised channels.Material prepared by the Ministry of Defence on nuclear weapons policy is not sent to schools except at the specific request of the school concerned.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What action they are taking regarding the alleged beating of Miss Anne Scott, a British subject, while under detention in Israel, in view of the rejection of approaches by the British Consul General and the indication that representations should be made by the British Embassy in Tel Aviv or by the Foreign Office.

The head of the consular department of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office took up the case of Miss Scott with the Minister-Counsellor of the Israeli Embassy on 16th July. The latter said that an investigation by the Israeli military authorities was already under way and undertook to communicate the result to us.I understand that two Israeli women soldiers have now been detained in connection with the case.House adjourned at eighteen minutes before ten o'clock.