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desirable that by-laws should be made governing their position and construction.
The Council decided to make application to Parliament to provide for the extension
of the application of section 39 to urinals and also of sections 40, 41 and 42 which
confer powers on the sanitary authorities in regard to the examination of water
closets, etc., and non-compliance with the by-laws relating thereto.
In July, 1924, the Council considered the question of the disposal of house and
other refuse from London and certain out-county districts in so far as it affected the
development for residential and industrial purposes of lands on the northern bank of
the river Thames below Barking Creek. The Council's chief interest in the matter
was as owner of the Becontree Housing Estate, but general considerations of public
health and other interests of the Council made the cessation of dumping on the
marsh lands abutting on the tidal waters of the Thames a matter of supreme
importance.
The Council called the attention of the Minister of Health to the matter and
informed him that it considered this dumping in the vicinity of Becontree and other
neighbouring areas under development for residential and industrial purposes
constituted a menace to public health and asked him to investigate the whole matter
with a view to guidance to the various authorities concerned as to future arrangements
for dealing with such refuse.
In 1925, the opportunity again arose of raising the question with the Minister,
who then promised to arrange for a technical investigation to be made by an officer
of the Ministry into the technical aspect of the problem of refuse disposal. As the
unsatisfactory conditions referred to still continued the Council in July, 1927,
again drew the Minister's attention to the matter and asked him to hold a public
inquiry for the purpose of arriving at the most satisfactory solution of the problem
of dealing with the refuse.
The powers and duties of the Council in relation to midwives are contained in
the Midwives and Maternity Homes Acts, 1902 to 1926. The last Act came into
force on 4th August, 1926.
Under the Midwives Act, 1902, the duties of the Council, as the local supervising
authority for London, were chiefly disciplinary in connection with the conduct,
professional or otherwise, of midwives or persons practising as midwives in London.
The Council was also required to suspend from practice any midwife, if such suspension
appeared to be necessary in order to prevent the spread of infection. The Midwives
Act, 1918, passed to amend the Act of 1902, enlarged the Council's responsibilities,
the chief alteration dealing with the provision of medical assistance for midwives.
By section 14, midwives are required to summon medical aid in an emergency as
defined by the rules of the Central Midwives Board. The fees of the medical man so
called in are payable by the Council (in accordance with a scale fixed by the Local
Government Board and amended by the Ministry of Health) which has power to
recover them from the patient, her husband, or other person, liable to maintain her,
unless it can be shown that such person is unable to pay the fees. This Act also
empowered the Council to pay, if it thought fit, to any midwife suspended by it from
practice to prevent the spread of infection, such reasonable compensation for loss
of practice as in the circumstances might seem just. It also gave power to the Council
to aid the training of midwives and to make grants for the purpose.
The Act of 1926 amends the provisions of the Act of 1902 with regard to the
practice of midwifery by uncertified persons, either male or female. It also repeals
the discretionary powers conferred upon local supervising authorities in respect of
compensation for loss of practice to any midwife suspended from practice to prevent
the spread of infection, and entitles her to recover such amount as is reasonable
in the circumstances of the case unless she herself had been in default. The Act
confers upon local supervising authorities power, subject to the sanction of the
Minister of Health, to make arrangements with pregnant women in their respective
Refuse
disposal.
Midwives.