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

2 February 2022

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, Kent Police Federation Chair Neil Mennie said the plan was ill thought out and would be adding another ask of a Police Service already struggling to keep up with its current demand.

Neil said: “It has been apparent for some time that demand for our services outstrips the resources and numbers of officers we have. Inevitably our colleagues handling the first point of contact have to prioritise that demand and manage expectations.

“On the whole the public are very understanding and especially where ‘crime’ has to be filed without attendance quite simply on the probability of proportionate progression and likely outcome of that report.

“It’s a case of having to as opposed to not wanting to, and we have to spread our resources accordingly. External sources will then tend to refer to the ‘extra’ officers that are being provided. They are of course not extra but more of a recovery from the heavy cuts policing numbers sustained. This is helpful but it’s not a magic bullet that means all of a sudden we have availability to deal with everything and could lead to unrealistic expectation.

“I remember early in my service attending a ‘multi agency meeting’ with an experienced detective as part of an attachment. I was fascinated how most of the actions and activity resulted in those agencies looking at the detective in expectation. After speaking with the DC post meeting he explained that ‘usually most things rolled downhill and ended up with the police’.

“This was a good few years ago and I sense an improvement however if as an example we take mental health provision we still tend to end up dealing with far too much of the pie. This isn’t a criticism of other agency workers as the folks at the pointy end are subject to the structures put in place ‘by the system’ and also are swamped with work.”

Neil added: “This proposal includes ‘giving the police power to deal with noise disputes’ and will add another demand to the list alongside the stuff that often gets forgotten about that officers also deal with.

“This includes missing persons other types of suspicious incidents and sadly sudden deaths and suicides, public order and protest and so on … you get the idea.

“I am not dismissing noise as it can be a distressing and upsetting issue that can have a significant impact on lives and should be addressed. Although it’s not clear what these ‘powers’ will look like this has for some time been an issue that should be dealt with by the local authority.

“If whatever processes and systems in place currently are not effective that shouldn’t mean it falls to the police in another ‘out of hours’ demand to add to the ever growing list.”

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