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7
too, have a two-fold duty, firstly, to insist on adequate
standards of cleanliness in food shops and in their own
homes and, also, to exercise forbearance in the unnecessary
handling of food in shops prior to purchase. The new Food
Hygiene Regulations strengthen the hand of the Local
Authorities but their successful operation will demand a
staff of sanitary inspectors adequate to the task. The general
shortage of these officers is, therefore, a very serious problem,
although at the present time we have managed to
achieve a full complement.
Cleanliness depends, ultimately, on an attitude of mind
and the development of a sense of social responsibility and
one of the results of the failure to develop the latter is the
widespread litter in our streets, parks and open spaces. It
may be considered that this is not primarily a health matter,
but its implications in regard to hygiene in general, and
the mental distress which it causes to large numbers of
people in the Borough, justifies a reference to it in an annual
report. Adults are the worst offenders and it is not surprising,
therefore, that children should follow their example. There
is no doubt that much more could be done in the home and
in the schools to inculcate a desire to preserve local amenities
which play such a large part in promoting the health
of the community.
Among the environmental problems which remain, the
most important is, undoubtedly, the lack of adequate housing,
particularly for young married couples and for the
aged, and this in spite of great strides which have been made
in recent years by the housing authorities. I wish to acknowledge
the sympathetic treatment by the Council of many
tuberculous families who have been rehoused during the year
in the interests of the prevention of spread of this disease.
Problems of atmospheric pollution are coming more
and more into the foreground in this residential and industrial
area and there can be no doubt that smoke emissions
from the domestic grate add considerably to the impurities
which are discharged into the atmosphere. Now that the
Clean Air Bill has finally reached the Statute Book, the
powers of local authorities are, to some extent, strengthened,
and no doubt the development of smokeless zones will have
to be considered in the years to come.
Attention is drawn to that part of the Chief Sanitary
Inspector's report on slaughterhouses on page 45. The Council
has for a considerable time been concerned at the cost
of meat inspection in the Borough and has, indeed, made
representations to the Minister of Agriculture Fisheries and
Food that local authorities should be permitted to make