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Annual Report of the London County Council, 1911.
The London Equalisation of Rates Act, 1894.
The Equalisation of Rates Act provides that the London County Council shall in each year
form a fund from a rate of sixpence in the pound on the rateable value of London. The contribution
from each parish to the fund is to be in proportion to its rateable value, and the amount thus produced
is to be distributed among the local authorities in proportion to population. Where a
sanitary district comprises two or more parishes, and the aggregate of the contributions from such
parishes is less than the grant apportioned to the district, the difference is paid out of the fund
to the sanitary authority of the district, and no payment towards any equalisation charge is required
from any parish in the district. Subject to the above, when the contribution from a parish is
less than the grant due, the difference is paid out of the fund to the sanitary authority of the district
forming or comprising the parish ; and if it exceeds the grant to the parish, the Council, for the
special purpose of meeting the excess, levies on the parish a county contribution as a separate item of
the county rate.
Every sum paid to a sanitary authority must be applied in defraying the expenses of the
sanitary authority incurred under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, and so far as not required
for that purpose those incurred in respect of lighting, and so far as not required for that purpose
those incurred in respect of streets, and where the sanitary district comprises two or more parishes
the sum paid must be apportioned among such parishes in proportion to their population, and the
amount apportioned to each parish credited to each parish in the reduction of the rate required from
such parish towards the above-mentioned expenses.
A statement of the amount of the grant or equalisation charge made to or levied upon the
sanitary districts in the county in respect of the year ended 31st March, 1912, will be found in
Volume I., page 51.
Conference on Public Health.
On the 6th April, 1911, at the County Hall, a Conference of Public Health Authorities in London
was held in order to discuss matters of importance arising out of the administration of the Public
Health (London) Act and cognate Acts. One of the principal subjects of discussion was the regulation
of furnished rooms, which has been under the consideration of the Council s Public Health Committee
for several years. In March, 1909, the Committee had before it a report pointing out that the Poor
Law Commission laid stress on the pressing need for further regulation of furnished rooms which itwas
stated are a conspicuous evil not only in London but in many provincial towns In the same
report some particulars were given of the examination of some 800 houses in London wholly or partly
let out in this way. There was evidence that the rooms were generally dirty, overcrowded, and
improperly used, and that the class of person accommodated was similar to the class received in
common lodging-houses. There was difficulty, however, in framing a definition, and the matter was
adjourned by the Committee for the consideration of the Conference in the hope that further discussion
might lead to some solution of this difficulty.
Other subjects discussed and on which resolutions were adopted by the Conference were as
follows:—
Houses let in lodgings.—That the efficient administration of section 94 of the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891, relating to the registration and regulation of houses let in lodgings is a matter
of extreme importance to the public health of London.
Pulmonary Tuberculosis.—(A) That the principle of compulsory notification should be extended
to all cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. (The Order of the Local Government Board of November, 1911,
has given effect to this resolution.)
(B) That the establishment of tuberculosis dispensaries throughout London is urgently
required.
Measles.—A. (1) That a better organisation is desirable in London for the control of measles
in schools.
(2) That during a serious outbreak of measles children under five years of age should be
excluded from school attendance.
(3) That compulsory notification of measles is desirable.
(4) That the cleansing of the infants' departments and of the furniture, lower walls and floors
thereof, shall take place once a week.
(5) That accommodation should be provided in the Metropolitan Asylums Board's Hospitals
for urgent non-pauper cases of measles. (This part of the resolution has been met by the provisions of
the Metropolitan Asylums (Measles) Order of the 30th May, 1911.)
(B) That in the interests of public health the school regulations should provide that all
children from houses infected with measles should be prohibited from school attendance.
Water supply to tenement houses.—That houses of three or more storeys occupied by more
than one family of the working class should have at least one water supply and a sink placed on a
landing convenient for the occupants of the sepond and third storeys.
Places where food is prepared and exposed for sale.—(A) That it is desirable that regulations
should be made to limit the pollution resulting from exposure in an improper manner in public
places or adjacent to the public way of food and food receptacles.