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14
Whereas Mr. Ashcroft, in his capacity as Chief Sanitary Inspector, has
been responsible for the section of this Report dealing with Sanitary Circumstances
(pages 72 to 102), there will be found much information of a sanitary
or environmental nature in my special reports (pages 24 to 64) to the Council.
Staff—Sanitary Inspectors.
As long ago as 1932 I found it necessary to report to your Council
that, if their work is to bear fruit, the sanitary inspectors must receive
adequate encouragement and support from the sanitary authority ; but
with the passage of time I have never felt that, however industrious and
efficient they may have been, they have enjoyed the complete confidence of
the Council.
The value of their services to the public may be gauged from the fact
that their appointments cannot be terminated without the consent of the
Ministry of Health, and that half the cost of sanitary inspectors' salaries is
contributed by the Central Government via the County Council.
During the year under review some very important additional duties
have been placed on sanitary inspectors, and many local authorities have
not been slow to appreciate that the appointment of an adequate number of
well qualified and experienced inspectors is a sound financial investment.
They have therefore taken steps either to increase their staff, or at least to
retain existing staff by the only means available in a community subject to the
law of supply and demand (i.e., by offering higher salaries or additional
emoluments).
In the short period of six months three capable and well qualified young
inspectors left your previously inadequate staff in order to take up
higher paid appointments in other areas ; and, with a staff numerically
half of what it should be, it has been impossible to operate a comprehensive
sanitary service, to undertake the detailed surveys of areas for re-development,
or to take full advantage of the Council's powers in connection with clearance
areas.
Rats.
Through the centuries rats have spread fear and famine, plague and
pestilence with varying intensity. Their proverbial fecundity and cunning
have defeated all attempts at their extermination, and the provision of the
wherewithal for their subsistence is a severe drain on the public purse.
As long as sewers and drains in Leyton are as defective as they are now
we are fighting a losing battle in our efforts to keep rats out of surface
properties. Short of complete renewal or rehabilitation of our drainage and
sewerage system there is no solution to our rat problem ; and the best we
can hope to achieve is to keep surface infestation as low as possible by
constant vigilance and organised attack.
As in so many branches of public health activity and preventive medicine
(e.g., disease prevention), there is little or nothing to show for our efforts
as long as things are going well. It is only when disaster overtakes us that
prevention becomes " news