View report page

Section 2
GENERAL ADMINISTRATION
The work of administering the various Acts relating to environmental hygiene
has been carried on throughout the year with routine visits being made by inspectors
to all types of premises. The statistics relating to this work will be found in
Tables 1, 2, 3 and 4.
Houses are visited for a variety of reasons, the most common being a complaint
form the occupier of some nuisance. One thousand, six hundred and seven such complaints
were dealt with during the year. House to house Inspections are also carried
out to discover any conditions which may require to be remedied.
The local authority is empowered by legislation to deal with conditions affecting
the health and comfort of people living or working in all types of premises. Contraventions
of the law are brought to the notice of the persons responsible by means
of a preliminary notice which can be served without reference to the Council. Two
thousand, seven hundred and eighty five such notices were served during the year,
the majority of which were complied with without further action being necessary.
Cases where preliminary notices are not complied with are referred to the
Council for authority to serve a formal notice requiring the contravention to be put
right in a specified time. This happened in one hundred and twenty five cases. In
no case was it necessary to institute legal proceedings for non-compliance with a
statutory notice.
Under the Housing Act 1957 the Local Authority is empowered to carry out
work which is the subject of a formal notice if it is not carried out by the owner in
the time specified by the notice. No action of this nature was necessary during the
year.
A similar provision is made in the case of works of repair required under Sections
39 and 45 of the Public Health Act 1936 and under these Sections the Council
has carried out work in default of the owners in eight cases.
Local Land Charges etc.
Information as to statutory orders made in respect of dwelling houses and as
to notices not complied with requiring works of repair was supplied in respect of
five undred and seventy one properties upon request for official search of the
Land Charges Register.
In addition, particulars as to properties were supplied in forty two cases in
which mortgages were being arranged under the Housing Act 1949 in respect of the
Purchase of small dwelling.
Improvement Grants
All applicants for improvement grants are visited and their premises inspected
to ensure that the houses are suitable for improvements and that after improvement
a proper standard of amenity will exist. Details of this work are given in Table 5.
47