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and nine thousand of these families, some housed before the Boroughs amalgamated and some
during the lifetime of the new London Borough. The mere fact of housing a family does not mean
that all their problems are automatically solved, but that they have surroundings in which a solution,
or solutions, should be possible. Old people, for example, whom the Council tries to help
as much as it can, may need the services of a Home Help, or grab-rails fitted at various places;
children may have certain problems which are only partly solved by housing in suitable premises.
All these difficulties, and many more, involve close liaison between the staffs of the Housing
Service and those under the control of the Medical Officer of Health and Welfare.
One particular problem which is the responsibility of the Housing Manager and is always
of great concern to him is that of tenants in arrears with their rent. Sometimes these result
from a temporary set-back and there is a need for help in facing the difficulty and finding ways
to meet it. In most cases there is no reasonable excuse, but on some occasions arrears of rent
may be only part of a much larger problem; and it is in these instances that consultation takes
place between the Housing Manager and the Medical Officer of Health and Welfare, or between
members of their respective staffs. In rare cases eviction takes place, and then all the Council's
services are brought into use to ensure that as little suffering as possible ic caused to children.
A task on which the former Metropolitan Borough Councils had made considerable headway
was continued during the year under the auspices of the new Borough Council. This was
work under the Clean Air Act, by which many fireplaces were adapted to burn smokeless fuel,
or gas or electric fires fitted in their place. The progress made owes much to the close cooperation
between the officers of the Environmental Health Service and the technical officers of
the Housing Service.
One of the ways in which close liaison has been built up, especially in the personal
aspect of the services, is through the work of the Joint Co-ordinating Committee. The Housing
Manager normally attends its meetings, where problems of mutual concern and interest are discussed.
Apart from the obvious practical results of such meetings, they are a way in which
greater understanding of each other's problems can be achieved. In addition to attending meetings
of the full Committee, the Housing Manager is usually represented at, or sends a report to,
Intermediate Case Conferences, at which cases with which he is concerned are discussed in
detail.
As indicated at the beginning of this report, by the end of 1965 much remained to be
done, and many problems were still unsolved. Nevertheless a beginning had been made and, with
the settling-down of the new Borough, it was felt that much would be accomplished in the following
year. Additional staff were to be appointed and, of particular interest in the context of
this report, plans were in hand for the expansion of the Housing Welfare service. The work of
the officers of this Section would not duplicate or overlap that of the specialist social workers,
but would be complementary to it, and it was envisaged that these twin functions would be closely
interwoven. This however is but one example of the general spirit of co-operation and close
liaison which exists between staffs in the various Council Departments; and there is no doubt
that the feeling of goodwill and the spirit of working together which have grown up, will be
of benefit to the residents of Hammersmith during 1966.
Library Services.
In addition to its many other commitments the Library has links with the Health and
Welfare Services as follows:
1) A personal delivery service of books is made to approximately 130 permanently
house-bound people. A library van visits these people fortnightly, taking a Library
Assistant, and leaves as many books as are required to last for the next two weeks.
Any particular title in which the reader is interested will be brought at a later visit.
2) Collections of books are maintained at three homes for old people, namely Westway
Park Old People's Home, Southway Close Home, and the Centre at 726/728 Fulham
Road. These collections are looked after by the Libraries' staff and changed from
time to time as required.
3) The Libraries have good collections of large-print books produced specially for the
needs of people with poor sight. This Ulverscroft series, as it is known, can be
borrowed from any of the libraries and is also supplied both to the permanently
house-bound people and the old people's homes.
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