Clause 47 - Dealing with noise at night
Anti-social Behaviour Bill
4:15 pm
Mr Bob Ainsworth (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; Coventry North East, Labour)
What the hon. Gentleman tried to do in the Noise Act-in effect to provide a carrot and stick-was right. If someone is prepared to provide a service seven days a week to cover the night-time period, they have access to a quick and readily available remedy that they can impose on people who are imposing themselves on their neighbours. However, that has not worked. Many local authorities have found that they do not want to provide such a service. We could argue all day about whether they were right to decide that. We are relieving them of the responsibility. They can provide the service as a discretionary service if they wish to do so. They can still access fixed penalty notices. We are not changing the rules with regard to the decibel levels or the measuring of noise levels that is required to prove a nuisance. As I said, we are freeing up local authorities from the requirement to provide the service described.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 47 ordered to stand part of the Bill.