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52
each of the families or persons inhabiting it, and that due
provision is made for their sanitary requirements. It is also
provided that in the case of any house originally built or adapted
by alterations or additions and used, so far as the same is used
as a dwelling-house, for the sole purpose of providing separate
dwellings at an annual value not exceeding £40 for each
dwelling, the Commissioners shall, upon the production of the
certificate of the Medical Officer of Health, as before mentioned,
grant relief by confining the assessment to the annual value
of the house, exclusive of every dwelling therein of an annual
value below .£20 (if any) and by reducing the rate of duty to
threepence.
All the certificates which had been previously granted under
these Acts by the Medical Officer of Health were withdrawn by
him in April, 1901, and owners were informed by the Surveyor
of Taxes that if they desired exemption from, or abatement of
inhabited house duty for the financial year ending April, 1902,
application must be made to the Medical Officer of Health for a
renewal of the certificate. Applications were made for certificates
in respect of 458 houses containing 1,480 separate
dwellings, and certificates were given for 122 houses containing
602 separate dwellings, and were refused for 190 houses containing
458 dwellings, and in respect of 146 houses containing
420 dwellings certificates were granted on the completion of
certain specified work.
Supervision of New Buildings.
In March last, the duty of supervising the construction of
the drains and sanitary appliances of new buildings was
transferred by the Council from the Works Department to the
Public Health Department, the two Drainage Inspectors
who had been employed in that work being placed under the
Medical Officer of Health, and Mr. T. H. Vercoe, who since
1896 had been employed in the supervision of the reconstruction
of the drains of old buildings, was appointed Chief Drainage
Inspector,