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Library.—The delivery of books to the housebound, instituted by the Public Libraries Committee
last year, has been carried out regularly by library staff, with the co-operation of the Home Help
Service. Eighteen old people are now receiving this service and some 2,500 books were delivered
to them during the Council's year 1958/59."
Diseased or Infirm Persons—Compulsory Removal.
Section 47 of the National Assistance Act, 1948, as amended by the National Assistance (Amendment)
Act, 1951, empowers the Council to apply to the Courts for Orders for the removal to a hospital or
institution, for the purposes of securing the necessary care and attention, of persons who—
(a) are suffering from grave chronic disease or, being aged, infirm or physically incapacitated,
are living in insanitary conditions, and,
(b) are unable to devote to themselves, and are not receiving from other persons, proper care
and attention.
It is seldom necessary to follow this procedure, except in distressing cases which sometimes occur
of old persons who, although no longer able to look after themselves and living in conditions which
make it impossible for them to be nursed at home, refuse to enter a home or hospital voluntarily.
Fortunately during 1958 there were no such cases.
Staff Medical Examinations.
The Medical Officer of Health is medical adviser to the Council for staff purposes. During 1958,
one hundred and five examinations of the Council's employees and new entrants to the superannuation
scheme were carried out.
New Legislation.
A list of the new Acts, Regulations and Orders, relating to the work of the Department, is given
in Table 22, page 36.
SECTION C.—SANITARY CIRCUMSTANCES
Sanitary Inspection.
The Borough is divided into five areas each of which is dealt with by a district public health
inspector. Inspection of dwelling-houses is dealt with on page 15 and in Table 4, page 30.
Excluding rat and mouse infestations, 1,030 complaints were received and details of the 1,120
various nuisances detected and remedied are shown in Table 5, page 30.
Notices.—Intimation notices numbered 297, and 105 of these were followed by the service of a
statutory notice to secure abatement of nuisances. In addition, seventeen notices were served
under Byelaws made under the Metropolis Management or Public Health Acts, and one under the
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act, 1949.
Legal Proceedings.
No legal proceedings under the provisions of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, were necessary.
Noise.
Forty-three complaints of noise, involving thirty-four alleged nuisances, were received. During
the year extensive engineering works and operations on demolition and building sites were being
undertaken in the Borough and most of the complaints were of noise coming from these, particularly
late at night and during weekends. The remaining complaints concerned a wide variety of supposed
causes, including radio and speech amplifiers, loading and handling of milk bottle crates, noise
from factories and workshops, motor vehicles, an extractor fan, noisy dogs, night baking, an electrical
transformer and generator, low-flying aircraft and a water waste preventor. The complaints were not
always justified but where, upon investigation, nuisances were found to exist these were nearly all
abated or reduced after informal action by the public health inspectors or the streets nuisance inspector.
In some cases the Department was unable to take direct action and the facts giving rise to the
complaints were referred to other authorities possessing the necessary powers to deal with them.
Pigeons.
For the purpose of abating or mitigating nuisance, annoyance or damage caused by pigeons, Section
121 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, empowers the Council to arrange for the seizure or