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V
Annual Report on the Health and Sanitary
Condition of the City of Westminster.
19 3 1.
Mr. Mayor, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present my Annual Report for the year 1931.
The report is prepared in accordance with the requirements of Circular
1206 of the Ministry of Health. The report of last year was of the
nature of a survey report, the previous five years being viewed in retrospect
as regards the needs and developments in health services. The subject
of housing was dealt with in a comprehensive manner; the conditions
prevailing in the various wards of the City were fully reported, and the
new housing schemes of the Council were described in detail and illustrated.
On this occasion the report is of a simpler character and, as laid down
in the Circular, only extensions or developments of health services which
have taken place since my last report receive full comment. Statistics
and other data relating to birth and death rates, infectious diseases, the
administration of the various statutory powers of the sanitary authority
are set out in the customary form.
The year 1931 was, meteorologically, not very favourable to health.
There was a rise in the general death-rate, infantile mortality and deathrate
from tuberculosis, and these features were also common to the County
of London and the country as a whole. Weather conditions in the first
quarter of the year were mainly responsible for an increase of deaths from
respiratory diseases among the elderly and the very young. More than
one-third of the total deaths for the year occurred in the first three months.
The population enumerated at the 1931 Census was 129,535. In
1921 it was 141,578—a fall of 8.5 per cent.; in 1911, 160,261; and in
1901, 183,011. The rate of fall seems to remain fairly constant. The
steady decrease is due to the declining birth-rate and to the movement
of the resident population to outer districts. The Registrar-General
attributes the 8.5 per cent. fall in population as being due to 7.7 per cent.
migration and 0.8 due to births and deaths. The birth-rate has never
been so low (10.17). This is partly due to the high proportion of elderly