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28
SECTION C
Sanitary Circumstances of the Area.
The tables on pages 41 and 42 summarise, as far as possible,
the sanitary work of the Department; from these it will be seen that
a total of 21,155 houses and premises have been inspected or reinspected
during the year; 2,029 intimation notices and 450 statutory
notices were served.
The number of registered complaints, viz., 2,178, was again
greatly in excess of the pre-war average of 700. This serves to
emphasise the difficulties which face the Sanitary Inspector in his
task of maintaining a proper standard of housing in his district.
Routine complaints mainly arise from the continued deterioration
of old property despite the application of the nuisance sections
of the Public Health Act.
The rate of provision of new dwellings is not such as to allow
of Housing Act procedure in the case of sub-standard accommodation.
A good deal of effort is, therefore, spent on obtaining
repairs to worn out property which, in other circumstances, would
be scheduled for demolition.
Factories Act, 1937.—Under this Act the principal functions
are administered by the Ministry of Labour and National Service
through H.M. Factory Inspectors. The Sanitary Authority is
charged with the duty of enforcing the legislation as to sanitary
accommodation in all factories in its area, and in those factories
where mechanical power is not used the following:—
Cleanliness.
Ventilation.
Overcrowding.
Drainage of floors.
All factories must have an adequate supply of drinking water
from a public main or some other source approved in writing by the
Council.
During the year, 418 inspections were made by the Council's
Inspectors in relation to the 345 registered factories. The latter
figure includes 66 premises where mechanical power is not used.
Defects were found in 37 instances, all of which were remedied.
Outworkers.—Premises where homework is carried on were
visited on 119 occasions by the Woman Inspector. In no instance
was it necessary to take action because of infectious disease.