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Noise Survey
Helping to ensure the health impacts of noise are considered in national policy decisions.
In England and Wales, the CIEH Noise Survey provides the only source of information on the vital contribution made by environmental health professionals working to resolve noise complaints.
2025/2026 Noise Survey
We are writing to let our Local Authority members know of an upcoming change to the way in which CIEH gathers noise complaint data for its unique annual survey.
Last year, the number of responses to the annual noise complaint survey was quite low (less than 48%), meaning that the validity of the overall data set, if published, would have been limited. A component of the Public Health Outcomes Framework maintained by UKHSA is reliant on our annual data survey so it is important that we consider the medium-term value of the data and how it can inform different national plans or strategies.
In preparation for this year's survey, the CIEH team has consulted different Government bodies, including UKHSA and DEFRA, on what contemporary issues we could meaningfully capture data about and also spoken with a range of other external stakeholders about how the results of the data set will support other projects relating to noise and public health. In order to maximise CIEH's reputation and the value of the data we gather, we have taken the decision to issue an FOI request to all LAs rather than relying on a voluntary data set. We recognise that this will create a new task and generate a degree of work so the new request has been designed with the input of two of our Advisory Panels to keep the question set as minimal as possible whilst being future-proofed.
We are grateful to those LAs who responded last year. It is our intention to publish last year's data alongside the 2025 data set in a combined report. We hope that the new questions will enable us to have meaningful dialogue with policy teams within Government, as well as within the research community, in order to create more visibility and profile for the profession. We will also look to publish an article in Environmental Health News in 2026 looking at what previous surveys have highlighted.
For any queries, please contact [email protected].
2024/25 Noise Survey
Thank you to all local authority professionals in England and Wales who participated in our 2024 Noise Survey. Your insights are invaluable in helping us understand the current landscape of noise management across the UK. Your expertise will play a key role in shaping the future of noise control policies and practices, ensuring that your experiences and challenges inform approaches in this area.
For those who wish to reference the survey, you can still download the Word version of the survey for your records.
Why is it so important?
Our noise survey provides the only source of regular national information on the important contribution made by EHPs working to resolve noise complaints.
Our survey results were referenced in the 2017 Chief Medical Officer annual report to emphasise that "environmental noise comes second in burden of disease to air pollution and arguably is responsible for more disturbance of quality of life". Noise is the single largest issue of complaint made to local authorities in the UK and over 80% of people report being exposed to noise pollution in their homes.
Past survey results
The 2020/21 England Noise Survey report was published in March 2022.
Key findings:
- A total of 356,367 noise complaints were recorded by 144 local authorities, on average 149 complaints for every 10,000 people
- 11,211 formal actions were taken by responding local authorities
- There were 88 noise-related prosecutions
- The average number of complaints per Full Time Equivalent Professional increased from 299 to 633
- There are 563 FTEs working at 144 local authorities to investigate and resolve noise complaints, on average 3.9 FTE per local authority
England
The report covers:
- The total number of noise complaints received
- The total number of notices served
- Other formal actions taken by local authorities
- Staffing levels for noise-related work
- The number of prosecutions
- Breakdowns of noise complaints by sector
- Breakdowns of data by region
Wales
Responses to the survey were received from all local authorities in Wales.
Key findings:
- Noise complaints 10% up on previous year ranging from 10 per 10,000 population in Anglesey to 177 per 10,000 population in Swansea
- 323 notices served (by 20 local authorities) under the Environmental Protection Act to deal with noise amounting to a statutory nuisance
- Formal action taken under other legislation to deal with noise in 22 cases (by five local authorities)
- Five simple cautions issued
- There were 34 noise-related prosecutions (eight local authorities)
- All but two local authorities reported that they were using the Noise App
- All but one local authority were using Matron monitoring equipment to assist with noise investigations
- Eleven out of 22 local authorities have arrangements in place to respond to noise complaints out of office hours
England
We collected data from 143 local authorities in England.
The report covers the same areas as the new 2019/20 report excluding other formal actions taken by Local Authorities.
Wales
All 22 local authorities in Wales responded to the survey, which is a response rate of 100%.
In total 18,567 noise complaints were recorded, which works out as 59 complaints for every 10,000 members of population. Noise from residential premises accounts for the largest proportion of noise complaints, while industrial noise accounts for the lowest proportion of noise complaints compared to other sectors.
