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15
WORK OF THE SANITARY INSPECTORS
The information given in the tables set out below supplies a
brief summary of the routine work carried out by the Sanitary
Inspectors during the year. A very large part of the inspectors'
time is given to the inspection of dwelling houses, with a view to
the carrying out of such repairs as are found to be necessary, and
it will be seen that a very large number of these repairs has been
carried out. Much of the house property in Wood Green is old
and shows evidence of the neglect and damage incidental to the
war years. The remedy of these defects is very often a slow process,
particularly when repair materials are in short supply, but
in most cases the work is carried out after the service of informal
notice, and in only a minority of cases is it necessary to ask the
Council's authority to serve Statutory Notice requiring the work
to be done.
In most of these cases the Statutory Notice is complied with
within a reasonable period, and it is seldom necessary to take legal
proceedings to enforce compliance. Only one such case occurred
in 1951, and in this case a conviction was obtained, the defendant
being ordered to execute the work asked for within 14 days. Costs
of £5 5s. were authorised.
As in former years the Sanitary Inspectors have also devoted
a considerable part of their time to the inspection of food premises,
with a view to improving the conditions generally, under which
food is prepared and served to the public. As I have stated elsewhere
in this report, the greatly increased attention paid in the
public press during recent years to the question of food poisoning
and the handling of food, has made the public generally much
more interested than formerly in the conditions under which food
is provided in public restaurants and this, combined with the
regular periodic inspection of food premises, has resulted in very
marked improvement in these conditions. Great, however, as the
improvement which has already taken place is, there is still room
for further improvement, but there is ample evidence that not
only the food handler, but also the food buyer is now very much
alive to the importance of a high standard of cleanliness in the
matter of food.
During the past few years, for instance, there has been an
increase in the number of complaints received at the Public
Health Department, of food found after purchase to be contaminated
in one way or another. During 1951 nine complaints were
received of foreign matter found in various articles of food. All
these complaints were considered by the Public Health Committee
and in most cases an official letter was sent to the offending party,
drawing attention to the serious nature of the complaint, and the
necessity to take proper steps to prevent its recurrence. In one
case, legal proceedings were taken against a large milk purveying