NOISE-INDUCED HEARING LOSS

Early day motion 135, tabled 16 December 1998 by Lord Cotter (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 92 members.

That this House notes that thousands of ex-servicemen and women are believed to be affected by exposure to excess noise during their period of service; notes that war pensions and gratuities have long been awarded for hearing disability due to service; notes that entitlement is often based on a hearing level test; notes that a threshold below which no payment is made was introduced in 1992; expresses concern that this has meant that many ex-service people who would previously have received a gratuity now receive no compensation; notes that some medical experts believe that the effect of ageing is made worse by the excess noise experienced through service; welcomes the campaign by the Royal British Legion to bring these issues to public attention; and calls on Her Majesty's Government immediately to review the threshold for compensation, accept that noise induced hearing loss and the effect of ageing should be considered together when assessing the degree of disablement, and to fund further research into the problem.

Signatures by party: Labour 36, Liberal Democrat 34, Conservative 10, Labour/Co-operative 3, Scottish National Party 3, Plaid Cymru 2, UUP 2, Independent Labour 1, UKUP 1.