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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government plans to take to protect residents from persistently noisy neighbours.

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Noise Act 1996 already provide local authorities with the necessary powers to tackle problem neighbour noise. This legislation allows local authorities to serve notices to stop the noise and prevent it from happening again.

The Government has also introduced more effective anti-social behaviour powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. One of the powers is the Community Protection Notice which the police and local authorities can use to tackle behaviour that is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of the community, is persistent or continuing and is unreasonable. In addition, apart from the statutory guidance, the Government has also published an information note highlighting how the new powers can be used to deal with noisy neighbours.