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17
Overcrowding.
Cases of overcrowding continue sporadically to come to our
notice and are given further attention. It must, however, be said
that in certain of these cases the overcrowding has quite apparently
been entered into in the full knowledge of the facts by everyone.
It is quite appreciated that with present housing difficulties and due
to various circumstances, relatives will naturally tend towards communal
living and married children towards living with their parents
even if in so doing they worsen what has previously been strained
accommodation. Whilst this is understandable and whilst little
action has so far been taken to insist upon an abatement of overcrowding
so brought about, it is nevertheless difficult in equity to
afford a high priority to cases of overcrowding brought about in this
way. Each case is investigated, its merits are so far as may be
assessed and appropriate recommendations are made to the Health
and/or Housing Committee for their attention.
No general survey of overcrowding is at present deemed
profitable.
Eighty-eight visits were made by the staff regarding cases of
alleged overcrowding.
Slum Clearance.
As previously remarked the local problem is of very small proportions.
It is being tackled in individual cases as opportunity
permits and whenever a very extensive attack upon what problem
we have becomes possible then it will without delay be made.
Medical Aspect—Re-housing.
During the year some 437 applications were referred to me for
opinion as to the degree of medical priority warranted by the circumstances
and 265 visits were made by the staff to investigate
points of doubt in this regard.
It is exceedingly difficult actually to ensure that the minute
details of each case are considered but a comprehensive picture is
obtained of every case and further enquiries where necessary are
made into the exact housing circumstances on the spot or through
the medium of the certifying practitioner. Full weight- is given
to any aspects of communal importance such as infectious disease,
pulmonary tuberculosis of an infective type and where special circumstances
such as the presence of young children under poor
housing conditions exist. There is also the significant advantage
that a parity of attention is given to each case and it may reasonably
be advanced that in this district the medical claims of each case
receive such attention that subsequently in any case a reasoned
argument may be advanced in justification of any course of action
which we may have adopted. I think that unless some system of
scrupulous assessment of the various claims was in operation the
conflicting claims of various applicants would be such as inevitably