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34
Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
Report on Bakehouse Conference.
In accordance with the instructions of your Health Committee, I have the honour
to report on a Conference convened by your Vestry, and held on the 15th of October,
1894.
Two delegates, together with the Medical Officer of Health, from each of the
metropolitan Vestries and District Boards, were invited to discuss the present law
regulating bakehouses.
Your committee consulted me with regard to (a) the propositions to be brought
before the notice of the conference ; (b) other suggestions of a general character.
The following propositions, were submitted by me:—
I. That the present state of the law relating to bakehouses requires amendment
by the addition of the following clauses to the Public Heath (London)
Act, 1891
(а) That uniform metropolitan bye-laws regulating the conduct of the retail
bakeries be made by the London County Council, and be confirmed by
the Local Government Board, and that the duty of enforcing these byelaws
shall devolve upon the various Local Sanitary Authorities.
(b) That such bye-laws shall cover the regulation of (1) The conduct of the
business ; (2) the structure of the premises; (3) the mode in which
application is to be made for the sanction to establish anew the business
of a baker in the county of London.
(c) That the portions of the bye-laws regulating the structure of bakehouses
do not apply to existing bakeries until after the lapse of a certain
number of years.
(d) That it should be rendered an offence to occupy as a bakehouse any
cellar or place almost or altogether below the level of the street, unless
it had been so occupied before and up to a certain fixed date.
(e)—(1) That all metropolitan bakehouses be compulsorily licensed, and
that such license be renewable annually ; (2) that the granting of licenses
be vested in the London County Council.
II. That a clause be inserted in the bill, to amend and extend the law relating
to factories and workshops now before Parliament, limiting the maximum
number of hours of labour of adult bakers to 12 daily, i.e., 72 weekly.
III. That a deputation consisting of delegates of this conference wait upon
(a) the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and (b) the President
of the Local Government Board and of the Board of Trade, to urge
upon them the appointment of a Select Committee of the House of
Commons to inquire into the sufficiency of the existing law relating to
bakehouses.
IV. That the question of compensation for disturbance of existing right in
retail bakeries be taken into consideration by the Parliamentary Committee,
and that the inquiry into the regulation of bakehouses should
include the relations between the millers and the retail bakers.
Your committee resolved to adopt these propositions verbatim with the two following
exceptions:—
(a) Clause 1, sub-section e. After recommending that all metropolitan bakehouses
be compulsorily licensed it was decided to omit the words " and
that such license be renewable annually."