asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if she will initiate a campaign in schools to alert children to the dangers of exposure to excessive noise levels in discotheques.

No. It is for local education authorities and the schools themselves to decide what place the effect of prolonged exposure to excessive noise, which has long been recognised as a health hazard, should have in the school curriculum. But the hon. Gentleman will know that the Medical Research Council is supporting a research project at Leeds Polythechnic to study hearing loss in school children with particular reference to pop music in discotheques.