HC Deb 01 November 1995 vol 265 cc288-9W
Mr. Pike

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what information his Department has with regard to which local authorities have environmental health departments operating a 24-hour service in respect of noise disturbances. [40485]

Mr. Clappison

Of 328 local authorities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland which responded to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in December 1994, 117 operate a 24-hour noise service. A further 134 operate a range of partial "out of hours" services, including responding to complaints on certain nights of the week and following up complaints received during normal working hours. The ability to respond will depend on staff resources in relation to the number and nature of complaints. The same survey indicated that target response times for domestic noise complaints were as follows:

Authorities (Per cent.)
Immediate response 9 (2.7)
Within 24 hours 51 (15.5)
Within 2–7 days 206 (62.8)
Longer than 7 days 9 (2.7)
Prioritised response service 49 (14.9)

Mr. Pike

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the current position regarding proposals to introduce a fine for noise disturbances during the night and to empower environmental health officers to confiscate equipment; and if he will make a statement. [40486]

Mr. Clappison

The proposal to introduce a new night noise offence, punishable either by a fixed penalty or prosecution, was one of nine recommendations of a working party set up last year to review the effectiveness of the current neighbour noise controls. A further recommendation was to clarify current legislation by providing a specific power to enable temporary confiscation of noise-making equipment which would give a stronger legal basis for existing practice. The recommendations and conclusions of the working party were published in a consultation paper in March.

We are currently considering both the written responses to the recommendations in the consultation paper and the results of recent trials of the proposed new night noise offence. We hope to announce shortly how we propose to take forward the recommendations.