London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
City of Westminster 1909
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, City of]
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Such certificates were originally intended as a stimulus to property
owners to improve the condition of tenement houses, but in some of the
above the accommodation for which application was made was intended
for servants and caretakers in blocks of high-class mansions.
By the Housing and Town Planning Act a further extension has
been made by exempting from Inhabited House Duty any house
occupied for the sole purpose of letting' lodgings to persons of the
working class at a charge of not exceeding 6d. a night for each person,
if certified by the Medical Officer of Health to be solely constructed and
used to afford suitable accommodation for the lodgers and due provision
made for their sanitary requirements.
Smoke Prevention.
The City is divided into two parts for purposes of smoke inspection, under Inspectors McNair and Williams, The following is a summary of the work done in connection therewith:—
| 1908. | North District. | South District. | Total. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complaints received | 25 | 19 | 44 |
| Observations taken | 1,604 | 1,001 | 2,605 |
| Notices issued— | |||
| Preliminary | 77 | 16 | 93 |
| Statutory | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Summonses | - | - | - |
Two of the statutory notices were for the same premises. A comparison with previous years is given below:—
| 1902 | 1903 | 1904 | 1905 | 1906 | 1907 | 1908 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complaints | 81 | 52 | 55 | 52 | 37 | 48 | 35 |
| Observations | 2,728 | 2,731 | 3,191 | 2,715 | 2,722 | 2,417 | 2,362 |
| Notices Issued:— | |||||||
| Preliminary | 58 | 68 | 142 | 121 | 93 | 106 | 116 |
| Statutory | 18 | 18 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 15 | 12 |
| Summonses | 6 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 8 | 2 | |
A conference took place between the Public Control Committee of
the County Council and representatives of the Borough Councils to
consider the lines on which amendment of the existing law should be
sought.
The following proposals were considered and adopted:—
"(a) That Section 24 (b) of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891,
which provides that 'any chimney (not being the chimney of a private
dwelling house) sending forth black smoke in such quantity as to be a