London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Kensington 1963

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]

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23
West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board from 285 Harrow Road, W.9.
The purpose of mass radiography is two-fold:-
(i) to find abnormalities of the chest and in
particular tuberculosis and cancer of the
lungs,
and
(ii) to give those whose X-ray is within "normal
limit" a certain degree of security.
The number of persons X-rayed by the Unit during a survey held
in Kensington during the year was 268, and a provisional analysis of the
results revealed no abnormalities.
ATMOSPHERIC POLLUTION
Smoke Control Areas. Sections 11 to 15 of the Clean Air Act,
1956, relate to the functions of the Council to declare smoke control
areas, in which the emission of smoke from the chimney of any building
(not exempted under the Order) would be an offence.
The procedure for establishing a smoke control area has been
prescribed by the Minister of Housing and Local Government, who has
stated that now considerable experience has been gained, there is no
longer a need for provisional proposals to be submitted.
Circular 69/63 dated 17th December, 1963, was issued by the
Ministry of Housing and Local Government, with a White Paper on
"Domestic Fuel Supplies and the Clean Air Policy".
The White Paper was the result of a review of current arrangements
for fuel supplies in future Smoke Control Areas in order to ensure
that progress with Smoke Control will not be impeded. It pointed out
that adequate supplies of solid smokeless fuel for open grates will
continue to be available to meet the needs of existing Smoke Control
Areas, including those confirmed but not yet in operation. Supplies,
particularly of the reactive fuels such as Coalite, Rexco, Warmco,
Cleanglow, etc. are, however, likely to fall increasingly short of
requirements for new areas. It is recommended that there should be
an increased use of closed appliances and underfloor-draught open grates,
as there is, and will continue to be adequate supplies of suitable
fuels for use in them. It also suggests that gas, oil and electricity
provide acceptable alternatives to solid fuels for many householders in
Smoke Control Areas, and it is felt that these industries should have
little difficulty in expanding supplies to the extent necessary to fill
the gap in the supply of solid smokeless fuels, although in the case of
electricity it is desirable that space heating should be done by storage,
and not by direct-acting appliances.
Circular 69/63 confirmed the Government's intention to encourage
and facilitate vigorous action against air pollution, but draws
attention to the fact that current arrangements under the Clean Air Act
will need some reshaping in order to ensure the continued smooth establishment
of Smoke Control Areas.
In future, in order to take full account of the local supply
situation in preparing future Smoke Control Orders, the Council must
consult representatives of the producers and distributors to determine
the availability of the various fuels. The results of these
consultations must be reported to the Minister when the Order is submitted
for confirmation.
A. Where such consultations with the fuel producers and
distributors show that supplies of open grate fuel will not be available
for a proposed Smoke Control Area, it is proposed to:-