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11
Welfare of Old People
The Council have decided to take responsibility, within
their powers, for co-ordinating, and assisting in the extension
of, activities for aged persons and to alleviate unsatisfactory
conditions under which many old people are living.
Consultations took place with representatives of the
various local voluntary organisations associated with the
wellbeing of aged persons, and a list of their functions was
compiled for general use.
Pour members of the Public Health Committee were nominated
to represent the Council on the Kensington Old People's Welfare
Voluntary Committee. This Voluntary Committee acts as an
intermediary between the Council and the Local Voluntary
Organisations. It acts as a co-ordinating non-executive Committee
through which voluntary bodies claim assistance from the Council
and through which the Council pass requests for executive action.
Any financial aid which the Council grant is given direct to
the voluntary organisation concerned. In this connection the
Council decided to exercise the powers of Section 31 of the
National Assistance Act, 1948, to make contributions to
voluntary bodies in respect of the provision of recreation for
old people.
The following is a review of the assistance which is, or
will be, available for old people's welfare :-
Cleansing. Arrangements have been made whereby old
people, their living accommodation and household articles are
cleansed and, if necessary, disinfested. The Regional Hospital
Boards, the London County Council and the Kensington Council of
Social Service co-operate by providing temporary accommodation
while old people's belongings are being dealt with at the
disinfecting station. Seventeen old people were dealt with in
1950. Five of these cases were rehoused whilst their rooms
were disinfested and redecorated. In the other cases rehousing
was not necessary, as the old people had more than one room
and were able to manage whilst their rooms were dealt with
separately.
Clubs and Recreational Facilities. During 1950, only
one direct request for assistance to provide recreational
facilities was received from an old people's club in the
borough. A grant of £20 was made to the North Kensington Old
Age Pensioners Federation for the purchase of a piano.
Housing. The Housing and Town Planning Committee give
sympathetic consideration to the claims of old age pensioners
for housing accommodation and, where possible, attempts are
made to meet their particular needs and desires. The position
at the end of 1950 was summarised as follows:-
"Of the people registered with the Council for
housing accommodation, fifty-one were old people living
alone in the borough, about half of whom were seventy
years of age and over. There were also nineteen old
people on the register who have a residential
qualification in Kensington, but who were living
outside the borough.
The Council have fifty-one units of accommodation
suitable for individual old people and thirty-four
units are being provided. In addition a number of
two-room flats built by the Council some years ago
are suitable for old people living together and a