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64
Slaughtermen's licences
The Slaughter of Animals Act, 1933 provides that no animal shall
be slaughtered or stunned in a slaughterhouse or knacker's yard by any
person who is not the holder of a licence granted by a local authority.
4 such licences were granted during the year.
A licence can only be granted to a person of the age of 18 years or
upwards who is, in the opinion of the local authority, a fit and proper
person to hold such licence, and the licence shall be in force for any
period up to 3 years and is subject to renewal at the discretion of the
local authority. The licence is in force in the district of the local
authority granting it and also in the district of any other local authority.
The operation of the licence may be suspended within the area of the
authority at any time and for such period as the authority may determine
and, if the authority are satisfied that the person is no longer a fit and
proper person to hold a licence they may revoke it. Applicants for a
licence must state whether they hold a licence in any other area, whether
they have been refused a licence or have had a licence suspended or
revoked in any other area, and whether there is any similar application
pending in any other area.
Mobile canteens
It is very difficult to obtain as good hygienic conditions in a mobile
canteen as are normally obtainable in a fixed shop canteen. One of the
major factors is the quantity of water available, and its disposal, and
another factor of importance is the ability to heat sufficient quantities
of water to ensure hygienic washing of crockery. Mobile canteens may
still serve a useful purpose in scattered areas, but in a built-up borough
such as this it seems on the face of it that fixed shops should be available
if the traffic is sufficient, and mobile canteens should not be necessary
except possibly in special circumstances, such as sports events, bank
holiday aggregations of people, and so on. The committee are in general
agreement with this view and no encouragement is given to applications
for licences or for other approval of mobile canteens.
A difficulty which is met with from time to time is that, from
reports we have, it appears that the Ministry of Food is prepared to
grant a general licence to mobile canteen owners to cover an area within
a certain radius, which may be much greater than the boundaries of the
borough. There is an LCC General Powers Act which is concerned
with the regulation of trading in streets, but except to a very minor
degree it is not concerned with the type of trading which is carried on.
The borough council gets applications for approval under this Act, but
it cannot have regard to any public health matters when giving or refusing
its approval. Nevertheless any cases coming to our knowledge are
followed up with a view to ensuring that, if practicable, the committee's
policy is put into force.