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CHAPTER THREE: LOCAL AUTHORITY CONSULTATIONS
Introduction
3.1 In order to gain a true understanding of the Neighbourhood Noise Nuisance ( NNN) service in each of the eight case study areas, a series of stakeholder consultations was undertaken. The eight case study LAs are: Aberdeen City Council; Angus Council; Ayrshire Councils (North, South and East, which are operating the same service); Fife Council; East Lothian Council; City of Edinburgh Council; Glasgow City Council; and Renfrewshire Council. This consultation exercise took place in October 2006, and involved senior LA representatives as well as Noise Investigation Officers ( NIOs) and Environmental Health Officers ( EHOs). The results of these consultations are presented below by LA. Written records from the consultation meetings were distributed to the consultees for their verification and approval before publication of the report. All the evidence provided here is therefore correct at the time that consultation was undertaken, i.e. October and November 2006.
Case studies
Aberdeen
3.2 The NNN service in Aberdeen (known locally as the Antisocial Behaviour Noise Control Team) developed in response to demand. The main drivers in setting up the service were to provide an out of hours service specifically for NNN and to take advantage of forthcoming legislation and related funding that was being made available to deliver this.
3.3 The current staff model in Aberdeen is a team of seven (one supervisor and six NIOs) who work over seven days. Two members of staff work at any one time.
3.4 Calls received during office hours (9am - 5pm) are currently handled by Aberdeen City Council's reception, which passes information on to the team accordingly. The number of daytime calls is lower than in the evening, and part of the reason for the day time service is to facilitate liaison with other teams and to give staff 'quiet time' to carry out their administrative duties. Outside office hours, the police receive the calls and text the details to the noise team. Since consultations were undertaken the LA has introduced a 24-hour contact centre, which will eventually deal with all Noise Nuisance calls meaning that neither the LA reception nor the police will deal with any of these calls. Contact Centre staff will be trained to give appropriate advice to callers before passing the call on to specialist Investigation staff.
3.5 The service runs from 0900 until 0330 the next day (with staff remaining on shift until 4am). Outside these times (0330 - 0859), the police handle these calls themselves, although they are such low priority that police rarely arrive in time to witness the noise.
3.6 To launch the service, the Council embarked on a significant publicity campaign and on an ongoing basis, the team try to participate in community meetings, in order to increase awareness.
3.7 The NNN team does not include any EHOs. The opinion of the NIOs is that they are as well-qualified in the specific area of noise as EHOs. The NIOs have a variety of backgrounds, although all emphasised their communication skills and the public-facing nature of the role. Most of the staff who were taken on were new to the LA, so there was a LAs induction as well as 'dealing with violence and aggression' talks from police and formal acoustics training at Bell College. There is also training in areas such as First Aid.
3.8 In order to monitor the NNN service, the team use a database known as FLARE which NIOs update at quiet times rather than when calls come in. This is the source of statistics and performance data.
3.9 Salary levels for the team are dependent on grade and range from approximately £17,800 for a Noise Control Officer to £26,500 for a Noise Control Supervisor.
3.10 There is currently cooperation between the NNN service and the out of hours ASB team as well as the Neighbour Complaints Unit (a team of Investigation Officers that deal with ASBOs, initially drawn from the LA's housing team). It is hoped that this cooperation will continue to improve. The team also cooperates with the police, although joint working between the two is not considered significant. Since consultations were undertaken, it has been decided to amalgamate the Antisocial Behaviour Noise Control Team and the Neighbour Complaints Unit in order to achieve efficiencies as result of the existing synergy between these roles. This new unit will be called the Antisocial Behaviour Unit and will incorporate the existing functions of both teams. One manager and ten Antisocial Behaviour Investigation Officers will staff this Unit.
3.11 The team follow the Guidance administered by the Scottish Executive, which they feel is very useful, however they did raise some issues with the legislation itself including difficulties detecting background noise.
3.12 Overall, the Council consider the service very worthwhile and is keen to see the service continue as it is addressing a neglected problem. In the future, the Council is keen to raise general awareness about the NNN service on both a reactive and proactive basis.
Angus
3.13 The establishment of the NNN service in Angus was driven by the availability of funding in the area. The model adopted by Angus Council was based on the Edinburgh model, which was adapted to suit local circumstances.
3.14 All calls are fielded by the police and during office hours these are forwarded to the Council switchboard as appropriate. The Council's out of hours service operates only between 2000 and 0300, outside these times calls are dealt with exclusively by the police.
3.15 Initially, the Angus NNN team had six staff who had a dual role and their time was split between noise nuisance and smoking ban enforcement. Initially both shifts (1200 - 1930 and 1930 - 0300) spent the majority of time on smoking ban enforcement until the number of noise nuisance calls increased. Now the team has moved away from joint roles and the team has been split into exclusive noise officers and exclusive smoking ban enforcers. The team of four NIOs is managed by one senior EHO, who works during the day shift only. None of the NIOs have EHO experience.
3.16 At present, it is felt there is little public awareness of the service in Angus, however, the Council has made efforts to publicise the scheme internally to departments such as housing and antisocial behaviour. The Council also wish to develop their relationship with the Police further.
3.17 The NIOs have a variety of backgrounds, however, the ability to work with minimal supervision and good computer and interpersonal skills were highlighted. Once appointed, all NIOs received acoustics training at Strathclyde University.
3.18 The service follows the Scottish Executive guidance, although it was highlighted that the acceptable levels of noise during the various time periods could be revised as several are considered to be too high by the team.
Ayrshire
3.19 The Pan-Ayrshire Out-Of-Hours Noise Service was implemented in Ayrshire as a result of public demand and the funding proved crucial in delivering the service. The current operating model in Ayrshire is unique as it incorporates three LAs (North, South and East Ayrshire). This was seen as the most efficient way of delivering the out of hours service as many of the issues encountered by the Ayrshire LAs are similar and they already have good working relationships. The three LAs also independently enforce the noise nuisance provisions of the Act during office hours.
3.20 The out of hours staff are based in East Ayrshire. A single '0800' number has been set up to deal with all complaints from the three LA areas, with complaints being directed to the relevant LA during the day and to the Pan-Ayrshire out of hours service on Thursday to Sunday, 6pm to 4am the following morning. Calls received outside office hours and the operating times of the out of hours service go to a call centre which is located in South Ayrshire. Although it is possible to phone the dedicated 0800 number 24 hours a day, they do not strictly run a 24/7 service.
3.21 The administration work associated with the service is slightly more time consuming in Ayrshire than in other areas as extra time is required to merge information from each LA into a single database and to undertake performance monitoring for each LA. This results in staff working outside the noise resolution times in order to complete these tasks.
3.22 The Ayrshire out-of-hours service is staffed by a Senior EHO; an EHO; an Environmental Protection Officer; and an Environmental Protection Technician. The service is augmented by EHOs and Enforcement Officers from the three LA's as and when required. The sole remit of staff within the out-of-hours service is to enforce the noise nuisance provisions of the Act.
3.23 In the future, Ayrshire would like to explore the possibility of expanding the current four nights a week service and offer a nightly service, although clearly funding is a key issue here.
East Lothian and Edinburgh
3.24 East Lothian and Edinburgh run a joint NNN initiative, which was established as a result of available funding as well as increased pressure from members of the public for the Council to provide such a service, rather than the police. At present, the service encompasses Edinburgh and the western part of East Lothian. This part of East Lothian encompasses the majority of main towns and approximately 50% of the population, although it covers only 15% of the actual land area. East Lothian knew it would have resourcing and geographical issues implementing a NNN scheme by itself and, therefore, decided to partner Edinburgh. Both schemes were launched in April 2005.
3.25 All calls are currently fielded by the police, who then pass the relevant details to the Edinburgh-based team as appropriate. At the moment, there is not a secure e-mail system and, therefore, call details are currently being faxed, which can be time consuming. A move to secure e-mail is imminent, however.
3.26 The service has two teams of eight people who work 11-hour shifts on a four on, four off basis. Initially, each team had five EHOs and three NIOs, but the number of EHOs is being reduced as teams are having difficulty recruiting for these posts in Edinburgh as a result of the high cost of living.
3.27 The EHOs have a dual role and deal with a whole manner of environmental health issues, such as food hygiene, whereas the NIOs deal exclusively with antisocial noise related issues. The Council believes it is important to have a mix of both posts. The service provided in East Lothian is for NNN only.
3.28 When the service was launched, publicity in Edinburgh was extensive, whereas East Lothian had to be more selective because they do not cover the whole area. Edinburgh Council believes that it has good relationships between its relevant departments and is considering setting up secondments between the NNN team and the antisocial behaviour team. East Lothian, on the other hand, did not have any real crossover with its internal team at the time of the case study research, although this has now improved with regular meetings and information-sharing. Regular meetings are held between the councils and the police.
3.29 The staff team have a variety of backgrounds, however, the existing EHOs tended to be already in post within the Council and shown a desire to work in the NNN area. Full on the job training is given and all staff attend the acoustics training at Strathclyde University. The team understand the data requirements from the Scottish Executive, but do not consider these to be too time consuming and believe this is the kind of data they would want to collect anyway.
3.30 According to the Edinburgh and East Lothian team, there are discrepancies within the legislation, such as the lack of scope to serve a fixed penalty notice in the case of anonymous complaints; enforcement difficulties with day time levels and the evening period; measuring the true underlying level in some complaints where noise levels are at their most excessive and the way in which the legislation applies to dogs as 'noise making equipment'.
3.31 In the future, the team would like to see the main issues associated with measurements and legislation resolved and improved sound insulation standards enforced through building regulations for new residential property. The team tend to find there is a general lack of awareness among people about the effects that their noise has on other people, which could be tackled with a nationwide campaign. There is also the desire to cover the whole of East Lothian, but it is unclear at this stage whether this could be practical as an extension of the current arrangements.
Fife
3.32 This NNN service developed in response to demand. In the set-up stage, the number and nature of calls about domestic noise to the police were monitored and it was clear that most calls could be dealt with without police involvement. Once this was established, a bid for funding was made.
3.33 The model in October 2006 was that two teams of six (one EHO, four NIOs and one administrative support worker) each worked on a four nights on, four nights off shift basis. The police field all calls, allowing them to assess risk, keep track of activity and pass to the LA as necessary.
3.34 The service operates daily from 1730 - 0330. At other times, the calls are dealt with by police. Providing a 24/7 service would have tripled costs and it was felt that this would not have added significantly to what is currently on offer as the service already operates at the busiest times.
3.35 To date, there has been limited publicity of the scheme, however, this is something the Council may develop in the future.
3.36 All NIOs completed acoustics training at Bell College and experienced EHOs undertook a shorter version of this course. Many have also received training on self defence, conflict management and legislation.
3.37 Salary levels range from £17,800 for a NIO up to £29,700 for an EHOs. The EHO role is often different from that of an NIO as the EHO plays a coordinating role.
3.38 A database of all complaints is maintained by administration support and contains all of the performance information required by the Scottish Executive. The database also includes records on a satisfaction survey carried out on a sample of service users.
3.39 Cooperation with housing is the main internal linkage. Co-location with the housing investigation team is planned for 2007, as well as a fully integrated antisocial behaviour database. Cooperation with the police and RSLs is believed to be strong.
3.40 Similar to other LAs, Fife follows the Scottish Executive guidance, which they consider to be very clear. However, it has experienced some problems with the legislation itself including the removal of equipment, which requires a warrant which is unfeasible to obtain outside office hours.
3.41 In the long term, Fife Council would like to see permanent ring-fenced funding for the service. It is also considering plans to expand information for landlords about the service and their responsibilities. Since DTZ met with the team in October 2007, a new team structure has been introduced with only one EHO shared across both shifts, beginning work at 3pm to aid liaison with daytime services. The planned co-location has taken place and this has also helped to improve linkages with partners in the Safer Neighbourhoods Partnership, particularly those outside the LA Housing Team, with whom strong linkages were already in place. Demand for the service has increased and the summer months have been particularly busy. The use of Fixed Penalty Notices has proved somewhat difficult and the possibility of making greater use of equipment seizure is being explored.
Glasgow
3.42 The set up of the service in Glasgow was ultimately demand led. Given the number of complaints that it had been receiving, the Council thought it would be worthwhile to deliver the service when the funding was offered.
3.43 Initially, the NNN service was run by the City Council, but, towards the end of 2006, the service separated from the Council and is now run as part of the Glasgow Community Safety Service, a new Pathfinder project that integrates a whole range of services. The Council is still in charge of administering the Scottish Executive grant funding for the service and second out NIOs to run the service.
3.44 Currently, the service mainly operates out of hours from 1700 - 0330 daily. A day time service is provided as necessary, however, this tends to be by pre-arranged visit only. The greatest demand relates to out of hours working when visits can usually be made in response to calls immediately (or within a short period of time). There is one telephone number that operates 24/7. Glasgow also operates the East Renfrewshire's NNN service out of hours. The Council is currently trying to increase resource for both day and night service and looking to recruit two NIOs for this purpose.
3.45 Glasgow Council collects a huge amount of monitoring information and statistics within its database and there is large demand for these statistics since the service began. As a result, there is a lot of administration involved, but, unlike many other areas, it has a dedicated administrator who maintains the database.
3.46 Recruitment was a particular issue during the set up of the project. Many NIO applicants did not have suitable skills, experience and qualifications, but this has now improved. All have received acoustics training once in post as well as on the job training. The service employs both NIOs and EHOs. The main cooperation and information sharing is with Glasgow Housing Association ( GHA), however there is also cooperation with the Council and the Police.
3.47 Occasionally, the team encounter issues with areas of the legislation. For example, it was stated there can be difficulties in solving noise complaints when they relate to various ethnic groups as there is clearly many sensitive cultural and religious events that have to be dealt with sympathetically.
3.48 Given the number of complaints that it has received since the service began, the Council believes that it is clear that the service needs to become permanent and funding for the future confirmed.
Renfrewshire
3.49 The establishment of the NNN service in Renfrewshire was demand led as before this service existed, EHOs were having to deal will all noise complaints whether they were commercial, environmental or domestic. It also relied on EHOs volunteering to carry out home visits at night and at the weekend. The grant funding allowed the dedicated noise service to be developed as a separate system.
3.50 The service is not currently 24/7 and operates within the following times:
- Monday to Thursday 0845 - 1645
- Friday 0845 - 1555 and then 2000 to 0130 on Saturday morning
- Saturday night to Sunday morning 2000 - 0130
3.51 The out of hours service at evenings and weekends currently operates from the houses of the NIOs as there is no council accommodation available. This is inconvenient and does not allow the NIOs to have a central base for getting the details of existing/current complaints. Part of the solution for this has been to provide NIOs with wireless hand-held devices.
3.52 At this stage, there remains uncertainty about the level of demand as there have been significant delays in actually being able to deliver the service. This has been caused by the delay in obtaining stab-proof vests, which has meant that NIOs have been unable to issue Warning or Fixed Penalty Notices without these.
3.53 Recruitment in the area has been a particular problem. Initially, the Council tried to recruit EHOs for the roles of NIOs due to their existing training and experience. However, no EHOs applied for the positions and, as a result, the Council had to employ people who did not have direct experience in the area. New recruits were not able to deliver the service until they had received training in ASB, environmental noise measurement and basic IT.
3.54 Cooperation with other LA departments is generally believed to be very good, especially with housing, with which they pass referrals back and forth. There are also strong lines of communications with the police, however, the team believe levels of cooperation could be better.
Summary
3.55 The majority of LAs stated that the main reason for participating in the NNN service was a demand for the service although, clearly, the availability of the funding was a crucial factor. Prior to the introduction of a dedicated NNN service, domestic noise complaints tended to be dealt with by the police and, because of the nature of the complaint, were often low priority.
3.56 Throughout the eight case study areas, there are a range of different delivery models. Angus, Fife, Renfrewshire and Aberdeen Councils operate their own dedicated NNN service that covers their LA areas only. In Angus and Fife, all calls are primarily handled by the relevant police force before being transferred to the NNN service as appropriate. Renfrewshire Council has dedicated mobile numbers for the service that are answered and dealt with accordingly by NIOs and EHO's. However, it should be noted, that there has been a significant delay in being able to actually deliver the service in Renfrewshire while the service awaited the delivery of stab-proof vests. In Aberdeen, the LA handles the calls during office hours, but outside these times they are dealt with by the police.
3.57 Edinburgh Council operates its own NNN service and it also covers the majority of the East Lothian authority during out-of-hours. All calls are dealt with by the Lothian and Borders Police control room before being fielded to the NNN service if appropriate.
3.58 The Glasgow NNN service also includes a service for East Renfrewshire. All calls come direct to the service. Calls can be received 24/7, but current staffing under this new system restricts the service to out-of-hours only.
3.59 North, South and East Ayrshire run a combined service that operates across the three LA areas. The NNN service is primarily based in East Ayrshire, where all calls are dealt with via one telephone number before being diverted to the relevant LA. Ayrshire does not provide the service during out-of-hours times on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
3.60 Those areas that operate a combined service have chosen to do so in order to achieve economies of scale and service efficiencies, i.e. accommodation, publicity and recruitment, for large or rural geographic areas via partnership working. The costs of operating a single service for many of the more rural LAs was not seen as value for money for taxpayers.
3.61 Several LAs have been very proactive in their publicity of the NNN service. Glasgow, Edinburgh, Renfrewshire, Aberdeen and Ayrshire Councils all heavily publicised the service, particularly when it was launched, and make use of billboards, posters, brochures, radio and Television. Much of this publicity is ongoing within these areas. Angus, Fife and East Lothian Councils do not publicise their service particularly heavily. Angus and Fife Council's have a desire to improve this however for East Lothian this issue is more complex.
3.62 None of the eight LAs operate a 24/7 dedicated NNN service, but all do operate some form of out-of-hours service, generally where calls are dealt with by the police.
3.63 There are various HR issues throughout the different areas, which mainly focus around recruitment. Where EHOs are part of the NNN team, they tend to be recruited internally and showed a desire for this type of work combined with an attraction to specific shift patterns. Edinburgh has had difficulty recruiting EHOs in the area due to high costs of living. Renfrewshire also had recruiting difficulties although the reason for this is unclear.
3.64 The majority of NNN team members have now participated in the formal acoustics training at the appropriate college/university. However, this is only available at certain times of the year in some areas and, therefore, new recruits have to wait for the next enrolment period. Although this training was considered essential by all LAs, there was some comment regarding the relevance of some of the content, for example, the mathematics and physics associated with noise. The content relating to legislation and noise measurement was considered to be of particular relevance. More generally, the training has been very well received although costs associated with the training for more rural LAs, such as Angus, could be considerably higher than urban areas as they would incur substantial travel and accommodation costs. Some believed that the courses and exams are available less frequently than they would like.
3.65 Many of the LAs also ensure the NNN team receive other relevant training, such as first aid, self defence and conflict management. This was considered desirable in many of the areas that do not currently offer this.
3.66 All LAs consulted collect the required key performance indicators that are a condition of the Scottish Executive grant funding as well as the statutory performance indicators required by Audit Scotland.
3.67 While the service does require a lot of administration, this was not felt to be more than would have been expected in delivering this type of service and essential for the monitoring of the service. Many LAs employ a dedicated administration person and in LAs, where this was not the case, was seen as desirable.
3.68 Angus, Aberdeen and Glasgow (encompassing East Renfrewshire) Councils only have NIOs on their NNN teams and, therefore, their salary levels are all similar. Fife and Edinburgh (encompassing East Lothian) Councils employ both NIOs and EHOs in their NNN teams and the Ayrshire Councils employs EHOs only, who have a dual role. These arrangements were not all necessarily the LAs first choice (as highlighted above).
3.69 There are significant differences between the salary levels of NIOs and EHOs. For example, in Renfrewshire an EHO is on a salary of between £24,333 - £31,044, whereas an NIO's salary is between £18,324 - £23,610. There is a concern among NIOs that there can be significant variations in salary levels of NIOs between the different LAs.
3.70 Co-operation with other LA departments tends to be good and all LAs co-operate with their relevant police force. While they all state the relationship with the police works well, the majority believe that it could be improved further with increased communication and understanding.
3.71 The majority of LAs consulted do not have a great deal of knowledge about the public perception of the NNN service and note this is an area they would like to improve upon. Fife Council has conducted a satisfaction survey with a sample of service users and this was seen as something other LAs would like to implement.
3.72 The Scottish Executive Guidance that is issued to each LA for running the NNN service appears to have been well received and considered, overall, to be very helpful. However, the following comments were made with regard to the guidance and legislation itself.
- The sound levels are considered by many LAs to be too high, particularly during the evening/nightime hours (some suggested one level for this whole time period would be more appropriate).
- Sound insulation is not addressed and this is believed to be a major grey area that requires staff to have experience and an understanding that this type of noise is not likely to be the fault of any particular party but is simply a product of poor quality housing.
- The civil fixed penalty is not believed to be strong enough. It was alleged that, often, fines go unpaid and are not 'chased up' effectively by the Procurator Fiscal.
- There is no allowance made for complainers who wish to remain anonymous, they cannot be dealt with by NNN teams and have to be passed to the Police.
- Sound equipment requires a 0.6 second break in the noise nuisance to detect background noise levels. Increasingly, music is 'mixed' on CDs and there is no break.
- It is unclear what is supposed to happen with noise from dogs. Dog barking is difficult to measure, but the Act states that dogs can be considered 'noise making equipment' and therefore seized. NNN teams are not specifically trained to handle dogs and, therefore, this could introduce health and safety risks. It is unclear as to how this power fits with the Dog Warden service.
- More certainty regarding the long-term future of the scheme and how it will be funded was mentioned as a key requirement if the NNN service is to continue. This is to allow more strategic planning of the service and resources. ASB in the form of noise is a problem that is likely to persist in the long term and, therefore, there will be a demand for a service of this nature.
3.73 Other suggestions included offering grants for sound insulation in flats and other high density housing as well as more restrictions on laminate flooring in flats.
3.74 Several LAs mentioned that the majority of people are simply not aware of the fact that their noise affects their neighbours. This appears to be particularly true of young people. A suggestion was made for a national campaign highlighting the effect of noise on other people.
3.75 Some authorities wanted their service to be 24/7, but others felt that this was unnecessary and perhaps not cost effective. East Lothian expressed a desire to cover the whole of their LA area.
3.76 Overall, it is clear that a number of different delivery models for the operation of NNN services have been developed and where cost efficiencies can be made, many are working in partnership with other LAs. The composition of the NNN services, across the LAs surveyed, varies across the areas with some incorporating only EHOs, some with a mix of both EHOs and NIOs and some with NIOs only. This has a knock-on effect on salary levels. All of the LAs surveyed follow the Scottish Executive's Guidance, which all find useful, however, a small number of comments were made where further clarification or discussion would be welcomed.
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