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In my annual report for 1894 (pp. 152 to 166 inclusive),
in dealing with the subject of the regulation of bakehouses, I
gave a summary of the steps then recently taken by the
County Council, with the object of securing such an amendment
of the law as would enable the Sanitary Authority to
exercise an efficient control over the bakehouses. The Council
thought that the Factory and Workshops Bill, which was to be
brought in by the Government in 1895, would " afford an
opportunity for amending the law relating to bakehouses," and
the Public Health Committee of that body subsequently waited
upon the President of the Local Government Board with
reference to the matter. The President, however, stated that
it was improbable that any clause could be inserted in the
proposed Bill dealing with London bakehouses, as the Bill
would have reference to the whole country, and not particularly
to London, and he suggested that the Council itself should
introduce a Bill. In accordance with the Committee's recommendation,
the Parliamentary Committee was, in January,
1895, instructed to prepare a Bill amending the law relating
to bakehouses in London, in accordance with the Council's
views. Whether any action will be taken to give effect to
the views of the Council during the current session remains to
be seen. One valuable provision with reference to bakehouses
is contained in the Factory and Workshop Act, 1895, which
enacts in section 27 (3) that " a place underground shall not be
used as a bakehouse unless it is so used at the commencement
of this Act," i.e., at the beginning of the present year, 1896.
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