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congenial and attractive situation from the point of view of the newly qualified inspector, who is in
the happy position of having a considerable choice of local authorities for employment.
This fact is appreciated and expressed by many authorities in their advertisements for inspectors
where the advantages and amenities of the area and its situation are stressed.
Public Health Inspectors—Night and Weekend, etc. Duties
In order to give as complete coverage of inspectorial work as possible with the staff available,
rotas have been organized to provide:—
(a) Every week night One Public Health Inspector on telephone stand-by
duty throughout the night;
(b) Every weekend One Public Health Inspector on telephone stand-by
duty;
(c) Every Saturday morning One Public Health Inspector with a Student Public
Health Inspector on duty at City Hall;
(d) During each two-weekly period Six Public Health Inspectors and four Technical
Assistants are each on duty for one night.
The last mentioned provision for night duty is intended primarily for the inspection of catering
premises in the late evening. Routine visits to many cafes and restaurants can only be usefully and
practically carried out during such hours, and that arrangements should be made for this to be done
on a properly organized basis is of more significance in Westminster than probably to any other
authority. It is intended that as more staff are recruited the number and frequency of this type of
inspection will be increased.
Student Public Health Inspectors—Practical Training
At the beginning of 1966 there were ten student public health inspectors undergoing training in
the Health Department and attending Technical Colleges under a system of day-release. During
the year the establishment was increased and three additional students were appointed in September.
One fourth-year student qualified by passing the Diploma examination in December and was
subsequently appointed as a Public Health Inspector by the City Council. Thus at the end of
December there were twelve student public health inspectors under training in the Health
Department.
District Inspection
For this purpose the City continues to be divided into four areas and sub-divided into thirty-two
districts. Two areas, each consisting of seven districts, operate from the Harrow Road office; the
other two, each having nine districts, are centred at City Hall and St. Marylebone Town Hall
respectively.
Each area is supervised by a Senior Inspector who, ideally, should be responsible for only a small
district himself in order to allow him sufficient opportunity to supervise the whole of his area and
advise and assist, where necessary, his less experienced colleagues and at the same time be in a
position to keep the Chief Public Health Inspector always fully informed of any particular problems
arising in his area. Owing to staff shortages, however, this ideal situation has still not been fully
achieved, and it has again been necessary for each District Inspector and the Area Inspector to be
responsible for two or more districts, so that overall supervision by the Area Inspectors has again been
somewhat limited.
Summaries of the work carried out by District and other Inspectors are included in Tables 9, 10,
11 and 12, page 68.
Dwelling Houses
General inspection of dwelling houses arising from complaints and for routine purposes, as
distinct from duties under the Housing Acts and other specialised functions dealt with later in this
Report, are undertaken by the District Inspectors. An analysis of reasons for initial inspections of
dwelling houses is given in Table 9, page 68; and an analysis of 3,222 nuisances and unsatisfactory
conditions found and remedied appears in Table 10, page 68.
Notices
One thousand one hundred and seventy informal notices were served and of these 638 were
followed by the service of statutory notices to secure the abatement of nuisances. In addition 137
statutory notices were served under the Clean Air Act, 1956. An analysis of statutory notices served
is given in Table 12, page 68.
Legal Proceedings
A summary of legal proceedings is given in Table 29, page 76.
Noise
Two hundred and forty-seven complaints of noise were received during the year and these
necessitated one thousand one hundred and ninety-three visits by the Public Health Inspectors.