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Armed Forces: Hearing Impaired

Volume 488: debated on Tuesday 3 March 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many one-off payments were made to people discharged from the armed forces since 1980 due to defective hearing; and what the average amount of such payments was. (259865)

[holding answer 2 March 2009]: Information is not held in the format that identifies how many one-off payments were made under the War Pensions Scheme (WPS) to people discharged from the armed forces between 1980 and 1994 due to defective hearing; and what the average amount of such payments was. This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Defence Analytical Services and Advice hold data for personnel medically discharged between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2007. However, it is not possible to relate medical discharges to awards made under the WPS.

Personnel medically discharged due to defective hearing caused by service on or after 6 April 2005 are considered under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS). Successful applicants who have hearing loss in both ears of 50 decibels or more will be awarded a lump sum tariff payment.

Rounded to the nearest five, five of the 75 personnel medically discharged with hearing loss between 6 April 2005 and 31 December 2007 were awarded a lump sum tariff payment for hearing-related conditions under the AFCS. The amount of that payment depends on the nature and extent of the hearing loss—for example hearing loss in both ears of between 50 and 75 dB attracts a tariff award at level 13, current value £5,775.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people have been discharged from the armed forces owing to defective hearing in each year since 1980; and what percentage of those people had hearing loss of (a) over 20 per cent. and (b) between 15 and 19 per cent. at time of discharge. (259866)

[holding answer 2 March 2009]: Information for those discharged from service due to defective hearing between 1980 and 1994 is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The number of service personnel medically discharged each year between 1995 and 2007 with the principal reason for discharge due to hearing loss is contained in the following table. All numbers presented have been rounded to the nearest five to avoid disclosure of individual identities.

Table 1: Naval service, Army and RAF medical discharges due to hearing loss1, 1995 to 2007

Service

Naval service

Army

RAF

1995

2

5

2

1996

2

10

2

1997

2

15

2

1998

2

10

5

1999

5

5

5

2000

5

2

2

2001

2

5

2

2002

2

10

5

2003

2

10

5

2004

2

10

2

2005

2

10

2

2006

2

30

2

2007

2

20

2

All

40

145

45

1 Numbers may not add up to the sum of their parts due to rounding.

2 Indicates less than five personnel have been discharged in this subgroup.

Note:

Includes Royal Navy and Royal Marines

Information on the percentage of hearing for these personnel is not held electronically and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many armed forces pensions have been awarded to people who were discharged from the armed forces with defective hearing since 1980. (259867)

[holding answer 2 March 2009]: The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what compensation is payable to a member of the armed forces discharged with hearing loss of under 20 per cent. if the hearing loss increases subsequently. (259868)

[holding answer 2 March 2009]: Under War Pension Scheme and Armed Forces Compensation Scheme legislation there is no compensation payable to personnel with noise induced hearing loss of less than 20 per cent. The body of medical opinion confirms that hearing loss caused by excessive noise does not increase once exposure to the source of the noise ceases. Any subsequent hearing loss cannot therefore be due to service.