To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress has been made on digital hearing aid provision on the NHS; and if he will make a statement. [104561]

We have invested £30.75 million on the first two waves of the modernising hearing aid services project. As a result, there will be 50 sites providing digital hearing aids as part of a modernised service by the end of March 2003 and a further 17 trained and equipped to provide digital aids from April.A further £94 million has now been allocated to ensure that a modernised service is rolled out to all national health service hearing aid services in England by April 2005.