View report page

5
We have received co-operation from the majority of landlords and agents in the borough
who have done their best, sometimes under most difficult circumstances, to abate sanitary
defects. It would be helpful, however, if all the landlords and agents would realise the necessity
of commencing, or at least preparing, to ameliorate a condition injurious to health upon receipt
of an intimation notice that a sanitary defect exists. It is unfortunately true that there are
cases where no action is taken until a formal notice is served, and sometimes even a summons.
This represents a waste of time and money and an unnecessary continuation of miserable living
conditions for the tenant. There have been no less than 50 court proceedings in connection
with sanitary defects during the year, the largest number since 1927 when there were 62. Even
this number will be materially exceeded in the year 1947. I regret this long list of prosecutions,
for although it is an earnest of the zeal of your inspectors and a very definite indication of the
Council's determination to remedy sanitary defects, it would be more pleasant to record that
we were able to secure the abatement of all nuisances without once having to seek the assistance
of the Court. It will be noted that in no less than 18 cases proceedings had to be taken before
we could secure the remedy of so serious a nuisance as a defective roof.
Housing.
Housing is still the major problem in the borough and at the time of writing this report
the Housing Department had 10,451 applications for re-housing. When one realises that the
number of separate occupations is about 52,708 it will be realised that over a fifth of the population
is asking for alternative accommodation. During the year my department investigated
1,363 housing applications to see how serious were the conditions under which the persons were
living and to secure immediate amelioration if this could be achieved by abatement of sanitary
defects. Of the 1,363 investigations the following was the classification:—
A (urgent priority) 1,001
B (urgent priority—less serious) 153
C (general waiting list) 131
D (no special consideration) 78
There is no need for me to enlarge on the fact that out of 1,363 investigations, 1,001 were found
to need urgent housing priority. These "A" cases include many where large families are living
in one or two rooms, sometimes in a basement.
Food.
Sixteen actions were undertaken in connection with the Sale of Food and Drugs Act. It
will be noticed that in two cases heavy fines were imposed.
I am not satisfied that there is yet adequate supervision of the food sold, exhibited or
prepared for sale in the borough. At the present moment the Council employs only two food
inspectors. During the summer months they could spend a large proportion of their time
dealing with the manufacture and sale of ice cream alone. When one realises the number of
restaurants and premises selling food in this borough, it will be realised that with our present
staff we cannot fulfil our task completely, and I hope in due course to present a report to the
Committee on this subject.
Births and Infantile Mortality.
The number of registered live births was 2,494. This is the highest figure recorded since
1933, when the number was 2,589. At that time, however, the population of St. Pancras was
190,900 as compared with 129,410 in 1946. The production of so many births by this reduced
(7090) A 3