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4
Clean air
We have now reached the busiest point in our scheme for the
establishment of smoke control areas and if the work goes according to
plan the number of houses in which adaptations will be required will
decrease slightly in 1964 and in 1965 (when it is hoped that the last
Smoke Control Order will be made) and will cease some time in 1966
as the result of the 1965 Orders. The work has gone reasonably smoothly
so far, and no local difficulties of a major nature are anticipated provided
sufficient staff can be maintained. It is, however, slightly disquieting
to hear (in 1963) that there may be an increasing shortage of solid
smokeless fuel available. This is against all previous central government
advice and is apparently due to the newer technological methods
of obtaining gas. It may mean that there will be greater pressure brought
to bear on the householder for the installation of gas or electric fittings,
or oil fittings, rather than fireplaces which will burn solid smokeless
fuel. Details of the work done in 1962 are shown in the body of the
report.
Old people
For the first year there is a separate section devoted to the work
of the Council in relation to the care of the elderly. This is because
the work has grown so rapidly since the War that it is now one of the
major factors in health department expenditure and administration.
An incentive to this was an Act passed in 1962 which allowed local
authorities to carry out directly many services for the elderly, instead
of having to do this indirectly—mainly by means of grants.
Home Safety
The Public Health committee have regular reports on home safety
matters, and the quarterly home safety bulletin which is got out by the
department continues to be issued. The ability of London boroughs
to do some home safety work was increased by the Home Safety Act
1961 so that all parts of the country have been given the specific power
to contribute to voluntary organisations doing home safety work in
their areas.
Housing Act 1961
The Housing Act 1961 was welcomed when it became fully operative
as an additional weapon with which to tackle substandard and
unpleasantly crowded premises—premises which are usually in multioccupation,
housing 2, 3, or several families. Certain work has been
carried out under the Act, but in some cases the limitations of the Act
have been shown up and although it remains a useful additional weapon
it is apparent that it is not going to be the full answer to multioccupation,
at any rate as far as London is concerned. In other cases householders
have been encouraged to apply for improvement grants, whether
discretionary or standard, but the number of such cases remains rather
disappointingly low.