House of Lords committee urge Government to act on noise

The Chair of the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, Baroness Brown, has written to the Government urging them to take more action to reduce unhealthy noise. The letter expresses disappointment at the lack of commitment shown to take any action in the Governments’ response to recommendations in the committees’ report covering environmental noise pollution. The report was informed by evidence presented to the committee by the IOA. Baroness Brown points out that, while further work by Defra and the UK Health and Security Agency to improve noise mapping and estimating health impacts is welcome, “mapping a harmful pollutant with no clear commitment to reduce it is a wasted opportunity.” She added that identifying cost effective interventions to reduce noise exposure should be properly resourced and published, “given the growing evidence on noise pollution’s impacts on public health.” The letter concludes by asking Defra to set out what actions it is taking to use noise mapping information to reduce the disease burden from noise pollution in the UK, and to reconsider setting a national target. It also asks the Government to ensure adequate resources and guidance are available for local authorities’ noise pollution.  The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee Report: The neglected pollutants: the effects of artificial light and noise on human health was published last year July, and the Government responded to recommendations in December.