asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children have been born profoundly deaf in each of the last five years; and how many specialised centres there are for their treatment in the United Kingdom.

No precise estimates are available but it is generally accepted that around one child in every 1,000 is born profoundly deaf. Responsibility for their treatment rests with individual health authorities and detailed information about the specific facilities provided is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services when he intends to ease the conditions for compensation for industrial noise deafness; and to what extent an extension is affected by the current level of provision for audiological testing.

Noise-induced hearing loss was prescribed as an industrial disease on 28 October 1974 on the basis of recommendations in a report by the Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (Cmnd. 5461 October 1973). In that and subsequent reports the recommendations have been influenced, among other things, by the availability of audiological resources.A further report is expected this year. Whatever the recommendations, these will be considered carefully, and in the light of other demands on the social security system.