Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his Answer of 17 March 2015 to Question 227433, for what reasons NICE has scheduled development of the clinical guidelines to begin in 2016 and not earlier; and if he will take steps to expedite that process.

It is for NHS England to agree the prioritisation of the development of clinical guidelines in collaboration with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

NICE was asked to develop a quality standard and clinical guideline on adult hearing loss as part of a library of around 180 topics, all of which address important areas. One topic cannot be brought forward without delaying another and there has to be a process for prioritising topics.