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Clerical work was the first choice of most girls. After this, the most-favoured
occupations were shop work and hairdressing.
At the December count, 180 unfilled vacancies were recorded (88 for boys and
92 for girls). In the same month, 14 young people (10 boys and 4 girls) were
registered as unemployed.
FLUORIDATION OF PUBLIC WATER SUPPLIES
In view of the negligible amount of fluoride in the water supplied to Finchley
the Council, in 1962, approved the principle of fluoridation of water supplies and in
January, 1963, resolved to inform the Lee Valley Water Company and the Middlesex
County Council of their views, and to request that arrangements be made for Finchley's
water supply to be fluoridated as a matter of urgency. In April, 1963, Middlesex
County Council as the Local Health Authority submitted to the Minister of Health
proposals to make arrangements with statutory water undertakers serving their area,
under Section 28 of the National Health Service Act, 1946.
In Circular 12/63, the Minister of Health issued general approval to all local
health authorities expressing the hope that authorities would make arrangements covering
all areas where the water is deficient in fluoride, so as to secure, as soon as possible,
the improvement in dental health which fluoridation will bring about.
A Report on Fluoridation published by the Lee Valley Water Company in June,
1963, contained a technical report prepared by the Chief Engineer, the Chief Chemist
and Bacteriologist and the Chief Accountant. The purpose of this report being to
record the results of a technical investigation of fluoridation as specifically applied to
the day to day operation of the Lee Valley Water Company, and to indicate the
practical effects of such an operation. Consideration of the problem had been based
on the propostion that if the water supplied by the Company is to have fluoride added,
then its application must be complete throughout the Company's area which comprises
parts of three Counties, Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex. In addition to the
supplies derived from the Chalk Wells and boreholes the Company receives a large
scale bulk supply from the Metropolitan Water Board of up to 6,000,000 gallons per
day, and therefore it will be necessary to have a decision regarding fluoridation by the
Metropolitan Water Board and to relate this to requirements in the Company's area.
All the 29 London Metropolitan Boroughs have approved the principle of fluoridation.
Of the County Councils involved, Essex, London and Middlesex have approved
fluoridation in principle but Hertfordshire has made no final decision as yet.
The conclusions of the Technical Report were as follows:—
1. The addition of fluoride to the water supplies at a specified level, while it
presents few technical difficulties, poses a number of problems of varying
degrees of importance in the day to day operation of the undertaking.
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