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67
Section 12 contains an extremely useful provision, as it gives sanitary
authorities or any officer or person duly authorised by them the right to enter
at all reasonable times any house, building, or premises in the district of such
Sanitary Authority for the purpose of examining whether there is any
contravention of the foregoing provisions of the Act, or of any Bye-law made
thereunder, or any non-compliance with the requirements of any notice given
thereunder respectively.
This power to enter by a Sanitary Authority for the purpose of ascertaining
if there is any contravention of the law was first introduced in the London
County Council (General Powers) Act of 1904. It was then an entirely new
departure, and one of great importance to Sanitary Authorities. Similar
powers should be conferred upon Sanitary Authorities in relation to all
nuisances.
At present, under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, power of entry
is only given in cases when there is reasonable cause to believe there is some
contravention of that Act or of a Bye-law made thereunder.
In pursuance of Section 5 of the Act, giving the Corporation power to
remove from or to refuse to register the names of purveyors of milk whose
premises are unsuitable for the sale of milk thereon, notice was given, upon
the recommendation of your Medical Officer, to the proprietors of a number
of such places in the City where milk was sold, that unless they carried out
such arrangements as were necessary to enable them to comply with Sections 6
and 23 of the regulations made by the Corporation under the Contagious
Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878, and the Dairies, Cowsheds and Milkshops
Orders, 1885, their names would be removed from the Register, and the sale
of milk on the premises prohibited.
The places in question were small general shops crowded with miscellaneous
goods under conditions that rendered them quite unfitted for the storage
of milk.
Up to the end of 1908 two of these were removed from the Register, five
were retained upon the notice being complied with, and many others have
since been dealt with.