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21
Diseases of Animals Acts and Orders.
The administration of the law relating to diseases of animals is
carried out partly by officers of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and
Food and partly by officers of County Councils and local sanitary
authorities. In Leyton, Public Health Inspectors are the authorised
officers under the various Acts and Orders.
The Diseases of Animals Acts and Orders deal generally with the
prevention and control of outbreaks of scheduled diseases and protection
of animals against unnecessary suffering, and in this connection 54
inspections were made and three notices served.
Atmospheric Pollution.
The Clean Air Act received royal assent on 5th July, 1956 and its
passing has been hailed as the most important administrative step forward
in the prevention of air pollution since the Public Health Act of 1875.
Whether it will prove to be as successful as is hoped in achieving clean
air will depend very largely on the local authorities who administer it.
Although some of the most important provisions (control of dark smoke
and of grit and dust, etc.) will not come into force until early in 1958,
a number of sections became effective from the last day of 1956.
The functions and responsibilities of the Public Health Committee
are extended by the new legislation, which forms part of the Public
Health code. The provisions now in force deal, inter alia, with the
establishment of smoke control areas. Preliminary survey work in this
connection will involve much detailed investigation, being similar in many
respects to a survey under the Housing Acts, and should now be in
progress. Before consideration can be given by the Council to the
question of the establishment of a smoke control area, a survey of the
Borough as a whole will have to be undertaken by the Public Health
Inspectorate, to obtain the information necessary to formulate proposals
for submission to the Ministry of Housing and Local Government. As
this is only the beginning of a long-term attack on the causes of air
pollution, as envisaged by the new Act, it is reasonable to assume that
two Inspectors could well be engaged on this work alone for an indefinite
number of years.
Leyton is still co-operating with the Department of Scientific and
Industrial Research in the investigation of air pollution. The recording
apparatus from which the Public Health Inspectors make a daily determination
of the concentration of smoke and sulphur dioxide in the
atmosphere is situated at the Public Health Offices, Sidmouth Road.
The tables which follow show the results recorded during the 12
months ended March, 1957, divided into summer and winter periods.
The average results for the 6-year period ended March, 1956, are also
shown for comparison. Concentration of smoke is expressed in milligrams
per 100 cubic metres and sulphur dioxide in parts per 100 million.