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successful prosecutions were taken during the year with good penalties and satisfactory results so
far as the Council was concerned.
Other matters which engaged the attention of the Department during the year were connected
with the problems of noise (and a section of the report deals at length with this matter), drug
dependency, and unmarried and unsupported mothers.
In previous reports I have drawn attention to the number of illegitimate births which occur each
year in Westminster and I make no apology for reverting to the theme again in describing the work
being undertaken to help the unsupported mother.
It is difficult for many to accept the unmarried mother as without blame although they may be
less ready to assign blame to the man in the case. It is difficult for those on a waiting list for a house,
a day nursery, or any other form of help to accept that she should have priority over, or even parity
with, her married sister. For this reason most of us have moved away from the use of "unmarried
mother" in favour of "unsupported mother". Perhaps our efforts would be more acceptable if we
talked only of "fatherless children".
After all, what we are really doing when we provide help for the unsupported mother is to use
her as an agency to give that care to her child which will enable the child to become a healthy and
happy citizen. If we can do this, we shall incidentally help the mother to achieve happiness too.
We shall, as a bonus, save a great deal of the ratepayers' money which might otherwise have been
spent.
At the cost of a day nursery place or a good child minder, plus a small flat for which the working
unsupported mother can pay a reasonably economic rent, many an unsupported mother can provide
a more satisfactory upbringing for her child than can be bought at much greater expense if that
child has to be taken into care. There are also the more intangible costs to the community if, as a
result of a deprived childhood, the State has to cope with an inadequate or anti-social adult. There
may be even greater savings if adequate counselling and social work support is given, so that either
extra-marital conception is prevented or, where a child has been conceived, the mother can be
helped to obtain support, either from the father or from her family.
The value of the Social Work Advisory Service for unmarried mothers provided by the City Council
cannot, I think, be over-emphasised. Not as a replacement for the many voluntary and other agencies
giving direct help—but as offering a social worker, without sectarian or other partisan loyalties,
who can advise the mother, impartially, of all the possible alternatives open to her, and to offer
continuing support.
The question of accommodation is more difficult. A place on the housing waiting list is little use
to a woman choosing between adoption and bringing up her own child unless accommodation can
be found quickly, and this presents many difficulties for the local authority who may be accused of
allowing queue jumping. For this reason most authorities who have decided to rehouse directly have
had to fall back on purpose-built hostels or blocks of flatlets even though they are aware of the
stigma attaching to "labelled" accommodation of this type. It is perhaps in this field that voluntary
bodies and housing associations can help most. In Westminster there has already been a
gratifying response and by the end of 1968 four projects were under active discussion with voluntary
organisations which will result in the provison of 24 flatlets for unsupported mothers.
There is also a case for an officer appointed by the local authority to seek out private accommodation,
not only for unsupported mothers but also for other clients of the Health Department. Such
an officer has, in fact, been appointed by the City Council and commenced duty in March 1969.
Mention must be made of the valuable work the Children's Officer is doing to arrange adoptions
and for the care of children separated from their parents. It is our purpose in the Health Department
to co-operate with him to ensure that these provisions are used only where the mother is unable or
unwilling to care properly for her own child.
Finally may I say a word about prevention. Family planning advice will, of course, help but the
City Council has not missed the opportunity to establish a counselling service on a much wider