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London County Council (General Powers) Act, 1953
Section 43 of the above Act states that, on receipt of a report from
the medical officer of health or a sanitary inspector that any aged
person within their district is verminous or is for any other reason in
need of cleansing in order to prevent injury or the danger of injury
and is so enfeebled that he is unable to avail himself of any facilities
for cleansing himself provided by the authority or to cleanse himself
properly, the sanitary authority may on the application or with the
consent of that person (but not otherwise) cause him to be cleansed free
of charge at the place where he resides or at any other suitable place.
The authority is enabled to make such arrangements and provide any
apparatus required to exercise these powers.
No persons received treatment during the year.
Anti-fly and anti-mosquito campaign
As in previous years four men were employed, working in pairs.
The campaign was held from May 2 to September 29 and Mr. Phillips,
the deputy senior sanitary inspector who is in charge of anti-pest work,
reports:—" 433 bombed sites, grass verges and rear garage ways were
visited on 5 occasions each and necessary treatment was carried out by
spraying or the use of powder. The material collected or destroyed
on the sites consisted of 115 mattresses and approximately five tons of
miscellaneous articles such as carpets, linoleum, furniture, clothing,
cushions and even perambulators. 30 gallons of paraffin were used in
the destruction of this material on the sites. As in previous years, a
remarkably large quantity of bread was also found, a positive encouragement
to rats."
The cooperation of the Borough Engineer's department was once
again available for the treatment of dustbins with a powder supplied
by the health department. The powder contained gammexane and was
applied to dustbins at the time of refuse collection. Altogether 4 tons
of powder containing 0.5 percent gamma benzene hexachloride was used.
7 stables or piggeries, 10 allotment sites, and one plot of land known
to be particularly bad as a rubbish tip were treated as special sites and
visited on 22 occasions each, particular attention being paid to the manure
receptacles at the stables and piggeries and the compost heaps on the
allotments. Throughout the campaign regular visits were paid to
Lewisham Hospital to spray the refuse container there and also the site
of the kitchen waste bins. 20 visits were also paid to both this Council's
and the London County Council's blocks of flats where dustchutes are
used. 235 dustchutes with 826 openings were sprayed. One private
block containing 9 chutes was also included in this treatment. The