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131
BAKEHOUSES.
The bakehouses, to the number of 134, viz., 74 in North
Kensington and 60 in South Kensington, were, as usual, regularly
inspected, and action was taken, in several instances, to
ensure compliance with the sanitary provisions of the Factory
and Workshop Acts, 1878 to 1895, and the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891. In the annual report for 1894 (pp. 152
to 166 inclusive), in dealing with the "regulation of bakehouses,"
I set out in detail the efforts made by the County
Council to secure such an amendment of the law as would
enable the sanitary authority to exercise an efficient control
over bakehouses. The Council were of opinion that the
Factory and Workshops Bill, 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 waited upon the President of the Local Government
Board to explain their views. The President said it was
improbable that any clause would be inserted in the proposed
Bill dealing with London bakehouses, as the Bill would have
reference to the whole country, 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 in accordance
with the Council's views; but no action was taken. One
provision with reference to bakehouses is contained in the
Factory and Workshop Act, 1895, in section 27 (3), to the
effect that" a place undergound 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 year 1896; but magisterial rulings
made this provision inoperative,