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69
As drafted, the Bill defined the Local Authority as under:—
The Borough Council in any Municipal Borough.
The District Council in any Urban district with a population of 20,000
or upwards.
The County Council elsewhere.
It will be seen, therefore, that so far as the City was concerned, the
London County Council would have been the Authority.
The omission of the necessary provision for the preservation of the
autonomy of the City was undoubtedly an oversight, as the Bill was described
as one for consolidating the Shops Regulation Acts 1892-1894 (in all of
which the Corporation is the administrative authority in the City), which, by
the passing of the Shops (No. 2) Bill, were automatically repealed, providing
that such repeal did not affect any closing order made under the Shop Hours
Act, 1904, except so far as it is inconsistent with the Bill under review, every
such order having effect as if it were made under this Act.
Moreover, as the Corporation is the administrative authority for dealing
summarily with nuisances in the City under the Public Health Acts, it would
appear an anomaly for the London County Council to be also dealing with
breaches of Sections 14 and 15 as nuisances to be dealt with summarily under
the Public Health Acts. The Bill is divided into four parts, with two
Schedules as under:—
Part I. Hours of employment in shops.
Part II. Closing of Shops.
Part III. Seating, ventilation, and sanitary convenience in shops.
Part IV. General.
Schedule I. deals with intervals allowed for meals.
Schedule II. specifies (1) the trades and businesses exempted from weekly
half-holidays and Sunday Closing, and (2) permits the sale of bread,
milk and cream until 10 o'clock on Sunday mornings.
The sanitary provisions are confined to Parts III. and V., and it is on these
parts that I propose to comment.
Part III., Section 14.—Sufficient means of ventilation are to be provided
and maintained. A contravention of this Section renders the shop
a nuisance liable to be dealt with summarily under the Public
Health Acts.