London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Chelsea 1957
Annual report of the Medical Officer of Health for the year 1957
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NATIONAL ASSISTANCE ACT, 1948.
Section 50 of the above Act places responsibility upon a local
authority to arrange the burial or cremation of any person in respect
of whom no other suitable arrangements can be made.
The Borough Council does not, however, arrange for cremations to
be carried out. In certain instances it has not been possible to trace
any surviving relatives, but it is possible that a member of the deceased's
family might ultimately be contacted and who would not express approval
to cremation having been performed.
The National Insurance Act, 1946, provides that under certain circumstances, death grants may be obtained as follows:-
| (a) under the age of three years | £ 6 |
| (b) between three and six years | £10 |
| (c) between six and eighteen years | £15 |
| (d) over the age of eighteen years | £20 |
Grants as indicated above were only payable to liable relatives ;
a local authority whilst assuming the role of a "liable relative" did not
receive reimbursement in fully but was granted three-fifths of one of the
above-mentioned sums, a stipulation included in the National Insurance
(Death Grant) Regulations, 1949. This procedures in one or two instances,
resulted in the Borough Council being unable to clear expenditure involved
in interments. In the coming year, however, a local authority will be
entitled to recover the full death grants applying.
During 1957, it was necessary to arrange the following interments:
(Aged)
17
64
69
69
Years
(Aged)
2 weeks
71 years
86 years
and one stillborn female child.