Noise-Induced Hearing Loss

EDM number 135 in 1998-99, proposed by Brian Cotter on 16/12/1998.

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.

This motion has been signed by a total of 92 MPs.