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only one W.C. although some have two W.C.'s and a
bathroom. No amount of increased amenities can
make such houses suitable for multiple occupation
and it has therefore not been the policy of the Council
so far to require improvements to facilities and to the
means of escape from fire under Sections 15 & 16 of
the Housing Act 1961. To do so would be in effect, to
sanction multiple occupation in unsuitable premises
which were originally intended, and are still suitable,
for single family occupation only. In such houses,
therefore. Directions are given under Section 19 of
the Housing Act with the object of achieving a
gradual or "painless" reduction in the number of
occupants. The houses in the main are over occupied
rather than overcrowded, but Section 90 of the
Housing Act 1957 is applied in those cases where
statutory overcrowding is found to exist. In Southall
57 such overcrowding cases have been dealt with in
the last 9 years, compared with only 10 in all other
parts of the Borough. The effect of the Council's
policy of giving Directions cannot be calculated
properly without a full-scale survey of all the premises
involved (ie. about 1600) but the general impression
is that the average number of individuals and households
living in the houses is diminishing slowly as
more and more immigrants purchase houses in the
district or elsewhere. This may be due in part to the
Council's application of Section 19 but there is no
accurate method of assessing this. The effect in any
event is that immigrant families from Southall are
now spreading more and more into other parts of this
and adjoining Boroughs.
Statistical details of action under the Housing Act
are given in the section of this report dealing with
Housing.
Improvement Grants
There appears to be no serious problem as far as
Improvement Grants are concerned. The immigrant
population is becoming well aware of the grants
which are available and apart from difficulties of
communication which can generally be overcome, the
applications take their normal course. No grants are
made available where multiple occupation exists in
order to avoid conflict with action under Section 19.
A recent enquiry from the President of the.Sikh Church
concerning improvement grants generally was answered
with literature and an invitation to discuss the matter
in more detail, but this has not been pursued.
In a few cases where applications are made for grant
aid for extra bedroom space, a child or other member
of the family is expected to arrive in this country.
Approval is delayed in these cases until the entry
documents have been issued and there is a useful
liaison for this purpose with the Home Office
Immigration Section. This is not a real problem, but
is expensive in terms of time and effort.
Clean Air
There are no real problems of enforcement of the
provisions of Smoke Control Orders. Whilst it is
necessary to issue formal warnings to the indigenous
population for burning unauthorised fuel it has been
found that immigrants from warmer climates do not in
general use solid fuels as a means of heating. Most
use paraffin heaters but an increasing number are
installing gas or electric heating, so that paraffin
heating tends to be replaced as the immigrants
become established. Paraffin heating is generally
associated with low income, but unfortunately gives
rise to greater fire hazards, especially as the
average number of occupants per house is high.
Separate fire statistics are not maintained by the
London Fire Brigade in respect of Southall. The
average number of fires in the whole Borough since
1965, caused by paraffin heaters has been about
30 per year.
4. Food Hygiene
There are approximately 160 food premises in
Southall controlled by immigrant traders. There have
been about 15 prosecutions under the Food Hygiene
Regulations. The premises tend to be untidy and
disorderly and routine cleaning is often neglected.
Overstocking is a common fault, particularly with
larger stocks of grain than most traders would
consider sufficient for current needs, and this leads
to spillage, bad handling and rodent infestations.
Evidence of rodents does not seem to provoke the
same feeling of repugnance which is generally
common in white people. The use of oil for culinary
purposes in restaurants and sweet kitchens produces
much greasing of surrounding structures and equipment
and special attention to cleaning, layout,
materials and ventilation is necessary. The difference
in standards of life may be exemplified by the use of
the W.C. If a squat type of W.C. is not provided then
the same position is adopted for a pedestal type.
Water in a bottle or jug is used for cleaning instead
of paper. These habits and customs lead to problems
which have also been the subject of a number of
complaints from factories and other premises in the
Borough where there is a mixed staff of Asians and
others.
Food hygiene control in these cases is difficult and
visits of inspection which must include an element
of food hygiene education can be protracted and must
be on a more frequent basis than elsewhere. Constant
activity in this sphere is producing results, and it is
really a matter of staff availability.
5. General Public Health Measures
One of the major problems concerns the widespread
accumulations of refuse in Southall in gardens, on
most vacant pieces of land and in rear access alleyways.
The Chief Officer, Works, is advised in writing
of all accumulations which require removal on public
health grounds and does his best to clear them, but
quite plainly he is often embarrassed by the number
of requests from this Division which outnumber those
from all other parts of the Borough. Immigrant landlords
do not always comply readily or satisfactorily
with notices served under the Public Health Acts.
Problems of language sometimes occur and it is
possible that this may be used as an excuse for delay.
In general there is a tendency to promise anything
with little possibility of real achievement. Certain
properties (Hammond Road for example) are of a poor
standard but on the whole, apart from over occupation,
rodent infestations and food storage, houses
occupied by Asians compare favourably with others.
Complaints from other local residents about these
houses are mainly about refuse, cooking smells and
alleged over crowding.
6. Rodent Control
The main difficulties arise because of a failure on the
part of immigrants to report infestations at an early
stage. When complaints are received the subsequent
inspections often reveal serious infestations which
are then more difficult to clear and much more time
is required. A block control treatment conducted in
one part of Southall revealed many infestations which
were not reported at all.
Here again there are difficulties of communication.
Many rooms are found to be locked and in others shift
workers are asleep and treatment cannot be completed
easily. Special appointments are frequently not kept.
Food storage seems to take place in several rooms of
a house and not just in the kitchen or larder. Rice and
other cereals are stored in bulk with uncleared
spillages which only tends to encourage rats and
mice. Refuse accumulations aggravate the problem and
the introduction of the plastic sack method of refuse