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112
accommodation can only benefit those who are in
a position to pay for it. Both measures plus a reasonable
rent rebate for children will probable be necessary
if this large population of children is to be
rescued from their deplorable present housing conditions.
In the course of the year, twenty-four serious cases
of overcrowding were reported to the Public Health
Committee but in the majority of them it was not
possible to take any effective action under present
circumstances.
INSANITARY AREAS AND REHOUSING.
Decided progress has been made during 1935
in dealing with Housing in the Borough; and the
well thought out plans of the London County
Council in conjunction with those of the Borough
Council offer some prospect of substantial improvement
in the immediate future. What is particularly
valuable in the new attack upon the problem is the
large scale endeavour to replan the district to
remedy some of the grievous results of previous
neglect of planning and control. This neglect
was not peculiar to Bethnal Green but was typical
of the whole of Greater London region, indeed it
might truly be said to be a national evil, and it is
right and necessary therefore that a body with the
resources of the London County Council rather than
the Borough Council should attempt to rectify these
mistakes of the past as far as possible. Supplementary,
however, to these larger scale operations,
the Borough Council is carrying out a number of
very useful smaller clearance schemes.