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therefore to recommend the Council, when it re-assembles in
October next, itself to promote legislation on these lines in the
session of Parliament of 1914.
The Committee are strongly of opinion that the vigorous
enforcement of the provisions of Part II. of the Act of 1890, as
extended by the Act of 1909, relative to closing and demolition
orders and the removal of obstructive buildings, would do much
to ameliorate the evils existing in many unhealthy areas and
groups of insanitary houses, which are, unfortunately, far too
numerous to permit, on account of the excessive cost, of their
being dealt with in a complete and comprehensive manner by
means of improvement or reconstruction schemes.
The Committee feel that the present divided administration
does not conduce to uniformity of action throughout London,
and that under the law as it now stands the incidence of cost is
unevenly divided. It is in fact more frequently the case that the
boroughs in which there is the greatest cause for a rigorous enforcement
of the provisions of the Housing Acts are the most severely
handicapped on financial grounds.
I am to add that the suggested legislation is intended to
supplement, and not in any way to detract from, the present
powers of the metropolitan borough councils whose support of
the proposal the Committee seek to enlist.
A second proposal for legislation which the Committee have
before them is that powers should be sought to enable the Council
to charge part of the cost of acquiring insanitary property for the
purposes of a new school site against the Dwelling House Improvement
Fluid, out of which the expenditure of the Council under the
Housing Acts is met. It is found in practice, when acquiring a
si+e for a new school, that it is often much cheaper to take good
residential property with large gardens than a slum area upon
which the buildings are thickly crowded. The Education Committee
of the Council feel bound to advise the Council to acquire the
site involving the minimum of expenditure, and the result is that
often well-built and respectably occupied houses are destroyed,
leaving insanitary property in the neighbourhood. It is obvious
that the reverse policy should prevail if this can be done without
sacrifice of suitability, but it is felt that if the selection of a slum
area for a school site is made in the interests of public health
and housing, the additional cost should not fall on the Education
Account. It often happens that a Metropolitan Borough Council