View report page

237
[1910
HOUSING, TOWN PLANNING, ETC., ACT, 1909.
On the 3rd December, 1909, the very day on which the Act became law,
the Council referred it to the Public Health Committee for consideration and
report, and as a result the Medical Officer of Health presented a report to
them, the main features of which are embodied in the observations which follow
herewith:—
Only that part of the Act which deals with the housing question is applicable
to Islington, the clauses respecting town planning being administered by
the London County Council.
This Act adds one more to the already numerous Housing Acts, of which
there are eight in operation in the United Kingdom, although four only refer
to England and Wales; and it is to be regretted that, instead of consolidating
as well as amending these Acts, it has contributed its quota to the confusion
of persons unskilled in law. Indeed, an eminent lawyer has written of it that
"the perusal of the first part of the new Act will disclose a bewildering maze
of cross-references to the provisions of previous statutes.*" Such legislation is
to be deplored, and, therefore, it is to be regretted that consolidation and
amendment did not go hand in hand.
It is almost impossible to report on this Act without reporting on the
whole law with respect to housing as it now stands. To say that the new
Act makes certain amendments in the old Acts affords no information to
persons who do not know them. The fact is that the old Acts were such a
failure that they were rarely enforced ; indeed, so rarely that since 1891 or
1892 no one connected with the public health administration of Islington has
touched them, the one experience with respect to the Norfolk Square area
having proved conclusively that they were both difficult and costly to administer.
If there be any members of the Council to-day who were members of the Public
Health Committee of that day (and the Medical Officer of Health can remember
only one) they will long have forgotten all about the provisions of the Acts
under which they worked, while of course every one else is in absolute ignorance
of them, unless indeed, they, through interest in the subject, have made a
special study of them.
It may, therefore, be pointed out that the principal Act deals with unhealthy
areas, and unhealthy dwellings. Also with working class lodging houses,
with which this Council will have nothing to do.
* Willis (W. A.). "Housing and Town Planning in Great Britain," London (Butterworth), 1910.