§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the amount spent in each of the last 10 years 39W upon research into deafness and allied problems by the research councils.
§ Mrs. ThatcherExpenditure figures are not available because the heading of deafness and allied problems is not used by the research councils for the purpose of classifying their research activity. But a good deal of research relevant to deafness is carried out. One Medical Research Council unit is wholly concerned with problems of hearing and balance. Four other MRC units and a research group include relevant research in their programmes of work. Research work in ten university departments and medical schools is currently supported by grants from the MRC and a further 10 projects are supported by the Science Research and Social Science Research Councils. Future policy on research in this field is under consideration by a committee on which these research councils and the health departments are represented.