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Public Health Department,
Toxvn Hall,
Friern Barnet,
Middlesex.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I beg to present my Annual Report
for 1960.
The year under review has been once
again uneventful. I hasten to add that this does
not mean either that nothing has happened or that
nothing has been done. The amenities of Friern
Barnet, which were built up by the careful, loving
care of past Councils, must be jealously guarded.
Every year the District grov?s older, houses reach
their anticipated life or even over-run that period.
Although the population of Friern Barnet has not
increased over the past years, we find more and more
houses being occupied by multiple families; while
almost every inch of available space has now been
built upon. What is happening in Friern Barnet
to-day, and what has been happening virtually since
the end of the war, requires constant vigilance.
The very fact that I can say in my Annual Report
that nothing sensational has happened during 1960
is in itself a most satisfactory statement; provided,
of course, as I have already suggested, that the
work of preserving Friern Barnet at the level which
it has already attained, is being carried out. And
that, I feel I can truthfully say, has been done and
is still being done to the best of our ability.
The vital statistics for 1960 are
eminently satisfactory, although it must again be
emphasised that one year's statistics for an area
with a population of just under 30,000 can only be
regarded as important for comparative purposes.
The death rate was 9.5, as compared
with 10.5 for 1959. The birth rate rose from
13.4 in 1959 to 13.$ in I960. In other words,
the rise was very slight. The infant mortality
rate, i.e. the number of infants who died during
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