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7
The following statement affords an indication of the normal sanitary
work performed by the Sanitary Inspectors during the year:—
(1) Total number of premises inspected 2,978
(2) Total number of reinspections and other visits and
revisits 11,868
(3) Number of inspections (recorded in (1) above) in respect
of:—
(a) Dwelling-houses for housing defects:—
(i) Non-tenement houses 554
(ii) Tenement houses 189
(b) Factories, excluding bakehouses 180
(c) Infestation Order, 1943 (excluding revisits) 790
(d) Food premises:—
(i) Bakehouses 42
(ii) Milk premises 70
(iii) Restaurants and eating houses 221
(iv) Other food premises 702
1,035
(e) Shops (under Shops Act, 1934) 63
The total number of complaints received was 1,338, of which 588
referred to rat infestation.
Nine hundred and ninety-seven informal notices (i.e., intimations)
relating to 695 premises and 258 statutory notices relating to 170 premises
were served during the year.
Housing.
1. Total number of dwelling-houses inspected for housing defects
(under Public Health or Housing Acts) 743
2. Number of dwelling-houses (included in (1) above) which were
inspected and recorded under the Housing Consolidated
Regulations, 1925 and 1932 4
3. Number of dwelling-houses found to be in a state so dangerous
or injurious to health as to be unfit for human habitation Nil
4. Number of dwelling-houses found not to be in all respects fit
for human habitation 569
The concentration of building labour and materials on the vital
work of war damage repairs and the issue of the Civil Building Control
(Ministry of Works) Order tremendously affected housing and sanitary
work generally. Arrangements were made with the Borough Engineer
(who is the Licensing Officer under the Civil Building Control Order)
whereby licences are granted or Certificates of Essentiality recommended
to all applicants upon whom Statutory Notices are served. Such notices
have been restricted throughout the year to repairs of an urgent character
which are prejudicial to health, and I regret to state that many have been
outstanding for excessively long periods, solely owing to the inability
of owners and agents to find builders able and willing to execute the
necessary repairs.
The problem of the arrears of normal maintenance work, particularly
in our registered tenement houses, is one of some gravity. I trust that, as
soon as the concentration on war damage repairs eases, labour and
materials will be made speedily available to cope with these arrears.