London. Westminster. The House of Commons.
The Habitable Soundscapes Committee confers whether to recommend the new Habitable Soundscapes Bill for voting. The Draft has been prepared by a Society for Acoustic Change. There is a major public pressure on its hasty introduction. The draft has been generally positively reviewed. However, paragraph 18 (about the silent rooms on the Workdoing Sites) received some concerning criticism.
According to the paragraph 18 of the Draft, all Workgivers would be required to install, furnish and maintain a special room fitted with soundproofing panels or other silencing materials. In such spaces the Worktakers should be encouraged to spend a total minimum of thirty minutes per day in order to become exposed to the beneficial influence of silence, as well as to relax and reduce stress. The Workgiver Interest Intercessor had objected to this paragraph, expressing her concern about yet another financial strain placed on the Workgivers. According to the preliminary investigation into the potential impact of the proposed HS legislation, the costs of the new silence infrastructure could exceed all public and private expenses brought by the Smoke-Free Act by over 2000%.
During the Committee proceedings it has been unanimously decided that the Draft should be revised and amendments should be introduced. A special Habitable Soundscapes Commission has also been formed. Its role would be to conduct a programme of trials and experiments in the performance of silent rooms installed on a series of representative Workdoing Sites. Based on a report produced by the HS Commission and the programme evaluation, an informed decision would be made by the Committee in one year’s time from today whether to recommend the Draft for voting or not.
