Written question asked by Mike Penning (Conservative) on Tuesday, 25 July 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 October 2006. It was answered by Derek Twigg (Labour) on Thursday, 2 November 2006 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Hearing Loss

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to the answer of 14 November 2005, Official Report, column 915W, on noise-induced hearing loss, how many people are in receipt of war disablement pension due to noise-induced hearing loss.

Answer: The operation of the War Pension Scheme and the data recorded in the war pension computer system do not allow the question to be answered directly. War pensions are not awarded for individual conditions, but for the total degree of disablement due to service, assessed on a percentage basis. This overall assessment normally takes account of all conditions that are attributable to, or aggravated by, service.Data from the war pension computer system (““WPCS””) indicates that at 30 June 2006 there were approximately 44,000 pensions in payment for noise-induced hearing loss with no claim for any other medical condition. There were also some 33,000 pensions in payment in cases where noise induced hearing loss was one of a number of conditions accepted as attributable to service. It is not possible to say in these cases whether the pension included an amount in respect of the hearing loss: noise-induced hearing loss of less than 50 dB is not included in the assessment on which the pension is based if the claim was made after January 1993 and WPCS data do not distinguish between cases where the pension includes an element for noise-induced hearing loss and those where it is excluded. In addition, the data show around a further 30,000 cases with noise-induced hearing loss accepted as attributable to service with an overall assessment below the level that would attract an ongoing pension.

Secondary information