Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of local authorities in reducing incidents of noise pollution; and if he will make a statement.

The Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively in order to promote good health and quality of life. We have strong protections in place to avoid significant noise impacts in our planning system, our environmental permitting systems, in vehicle and product standards, and noise abatement legislation.

The Government has not made a specific assessment of the effectiveness of local authorities (LA) in reducing incidents of noise pollution. LAs are the main enforcers of the statutory noise nuisance regime, and the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health undertakes voluntary surveys of noise complaints and LA enforcement. The results of these surveys form part of the Public Health Outcomes Framework indicator for noise (https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/noise).