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East Barnet Urban District Council
REPORT
OF THE
CHIEF PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTOR
FOR THE YEAR 1960
To the Chairman and Members of the
East Barnet Urban District Council.
I have the honour to present my ninth annual report to the Council.
The year of 1960 was an exceptionally busy one for the department
as a whole. Whilst the Clean Air Act largely contributed to the
increase in the volume of work the general public health work also
increased considerably in tempo. The overall increase was so great
that at times it seemed doubtful as to whether or not it would be
possible to keep the staff from being completely overwhelmed.
Strangely enough the Table of Visits (Table I) shows very little
indication of the true state of affairs during the year; however, a
closer consideration of the figures reveals that while the number of
complaints made under the section dealing with public health is less,
those made in connection with housing and clean air have increased
by almost the same amount as the reduction on public health. Visits
made in connection with housing and the Clean Air Act by their
nature take a much longer time per visit on average. It must also be
remembered that visits under these two sections create more administrative
and clerical work for the inspectors and clerical staff.
In addition to this very considerable increase much time and
patience had to be expended by the staff in the office in dealing with
the flood of queries raised by the introduction of the Clean Air Act
in East Barnet.
Fortunately our move to new quarters at Church Farm took place
in the early Spring before the main onslaught of this additional work.
However, any move in office accommodation does cause disorganisation
but everything was running smoothly before the rush of
additional work commenced.
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