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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department last made an assessment of the adequacy of the (a) noise and (b) vibration limits for pile driving.

The Government is committed to ensuring that noise is managed effectively in order to promote good health and quality of life. We do not consider, however, that a single objective noise-based measure is appropriate to all situations, as effect levels are likely to be different for different noise sources, different people and at different times.

The Government has worked with the British Standards Institution to publish BS5228, which sets standards for noise and vibration from construction work, including pile driving. Local authorities and magistrates' courts are required to take this standard into account when exercising their powers and functions under noise management legislation in relation to construction works. The most recent update to this standard was in 2015.