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Common Lodging Houses.—There are two lodging houses in the Borough : one, accommodating 436
men, owned by the Salvation Army and situated at No. 2, Burne Street and premises in Lisson Street ;
the other, registered for 100 women, conducted by the Church Army at Portman House, No. 10,
Daventry Street. The attention of the owners of both establishments was drawn to the necessity for
fairly extensive alterations in the premises. In the case of the men's lodging house these involve additional
natural lighting and ventilation to certain of the dormitories, the replacement of old sanitary
accommodation by new water-closets, urinals and washing facilities in various parts of the building,
and the re-planning of the kitchen in a position adjacent to the dining room. These works were in
hand at the close of the year. At the women's lodging house, sanitary accommodation, baths and
washing facilities are to be provided on the four floors where dormitories are situated, and it
is anticipated that this much-needed improvement will be made next year. The sanitary inspectors
made 117 visits to the common lodging houses during 1949.
Rent Restriction Acts.—A question arose as to the desirability of advising tenants of their rights under
these Acts where a sanitary notice had been served in respect of their dwellings. In view of the
complexity of the statutes it was arranged that the sanitary inspector would, in appropriate cases,
inform the tenant that a sanitary notice had been served upon the owner and, in cases where the issue
of a disrepair certificate appeared to be justified, suggest that the tenant should enquire of the Town
Clerk's Department whether he was eligible to derive benefit by the issue of such a certificate. If,
in the opinion of the Town Clerk's Department, this was the case the tenant would be advised to make
application to the Medical Officer of Health for a certificate, for which a fee of one shilling is payable.
During the year three disrepair certificates were granted.
SECTION E.—INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF FOOD.
Clean Food Campaign.—The Food and Drugs Acts require that a certain minimum standard of hygiene
and cleanliness shall be maintained in premises where food is prepared, sold or stored, and model
byelaws to be issued shortly will further strengthen these requirements. Whilst these powers go a
long way towards ensuring a clean and safe food supply it is essential that legislation should be observed
not only in the letter but in the spirit. Public interest in the cleanliness of the food supply has greatly
increased since the war. People are becoming more fastidious and, moreover, realise that disease is
spread by unclean food. A steady improvement in conditions in the Borough has resulted from
special attention recently given to this question, but the Public Health Committee felt that traders
might be encouraged to attain something more than the minimum standard required by law if they
themselves could take a more active part in dealing with the problem. Accordingly the Committee
suggested the formation of a "St. Marylebone Clean Food Association" to embrace not only the
proprietors of restaurants, cafes and canteens but also butchers, grocers, fishmongers, greengrocers
and all other traders engaged in the handling or preparation of food, whether cooked or uncooked.
Applicants for membership would be required to undertake to comply with a Code of Practice and,
subject to a satisfactory report from the Medical Officer of Health, would be issued with a certificate
and badge of membership in respect of the premises to which their application related. A breach by
any member of the Code of Practice would, if established by investigation and subject to certain
safeguards, lead to the withdrawal of the certificate and badge and deletion of the offender's name
from the register of members. It was decided that in the first instance all proprietors of establishments
engaged in food handling and preparation should be invited to attend a meeting at the Town Hall
when the aims and objects of the Association would be broadly outlined. At this meeting a Working
Committee would be elected to draw up Articles of Association and draft a Code of Practice. In these
matters the Medical Officer of Health and the staff of the Public Health Department would help and
advise but the final details would be settled by the Working Committee, who would subsequently be
replaced by an Executive Committee, to be elected annually, whose duties would include consideration
of applications for membership, authorisation of the issue or withdrawal of certificates and badges,
and the organisation of demonstrations, lectures and discussions on various aspects of food handling
and hygiene. The scheme has the full support of the Borough Council, but it is intended that the
Association shall be run as an independent body by members of the trades concerned. At the close
of the year arrangements were in hand for preparing a complete list of food traders in the Borough in
order that the inaugural meeting of the Association could be convened.
At the eastern end of the Borough and over the borders in St. Pancras, Holborn and Westminster
there are a number of restaurants owned and controlled by Cypriots where the language difficulty
often stands in the way of imparting to these traders instruction and advice on the need for cleanliness
in the handling, preparation, cooking and serving of food to the public. To overcome this obstacle
the St. Pancras Health Department arranged, through the good offices of the Commissioner of Cyprus,
for a lecture in Greek to be given on a Sunday afternoon in Soho to Cypriot restaurateurs and their
staffs trading in the Tottenham Court Road area. The Medical Officer of Health of St. Pancras