§ Mr. Bill O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what progress has been made on the recently promised independent review of the science of the assessment of noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss for the purposes of claims to war pensions. [10554]
§ Mr. DenhamThe Government are pledged to an independent review of the medical evidence behind the approach to the assessment of noise-induced hearing loss in war pensions. We hope that the review will provide a conclusion which is clear and unambiguous.
The review will be chaired by Sir Kenneth Calman, the chief medical officer. The other members of the review team will be Professor Adrian Davis of the Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research, Professor Mark Lutman of the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, Professor Linda Luxon of the Institute of Laryngology and Otology at the University college London medical school and Dr. Guy Lightfoot of the department of clinical engineering at the Royal Liverpool university hospital. Dr. Anne Braidwood of this Department will serve on the team and act as secretary.
The review team is expected to meet in September.