2 February 2022

Noise nuisance could soon end up under Policing's remit

Police officers could soon be asked to deal with noise nuisance – a job traditionally in the remit of local councils.

The idea was raised in the Government’s so-called ‘levelling up’ plan, which was announced today by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove.

The ‘restoring local pride’ section of the report states: “Police officers will also gain the power to deal with noise nuisance.”

However, Dorset Police Federation Chair James Dimmack said the plan was yet another example of the police service “assimilating the slack” from other agencies.

James said: “The power to deal with noise nuisance being handed to the police is being heralded here in triumphant tones. This is very far from the truth, however.

“Whilst the police endure a continuing battle to provide our core service, a fundamental part of this is to resist the clamouring of other agencies to assimilate their slack.

“Noise nuisance has forever been the domain of local councils – sadly, an area of business they have constantly failed to appropriately address.

“Seemingly the best way to solve this is to transfer yet more responsibility to the police for social rather than policing issues. This creates more work, and importantly, it generates confusion with the public as to what the police can deliver.

“Policing needs to focus on what it does best in robustly tackling crime and protecting the public. Noise nuisance – whilst I recognise is a pertinent issue – remains a social issue and therefore best placed within civil authorities where it currently resides.

“They have powers to deal with these issues and should be encouraged to do so not pass on the responsibility to others.”

See the full report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unveils-levelling-up-plan-that-will-transform-uk