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found, notices were served on the owners to have them remedied. During the
War, house-to-house inspection was, to a considerable extent, in abeyance.
In 1919, it was re-commenced and it was decided to have every house in the
Borough re-inspected, and to have the houses brought into a reasonably fit
state for human habitation. Considerable progress was made, but the Public
Health Committee decided in 1920 to have the work done more expeditiously,
and for this purpose, five temporary Sanitary Inspectors were appointed in
connection with Section 28 of the Housing and Town Planning Act, 1919.
They commenced their duties in August, 1920. The district Inspectors
worked in co-operation with them under the Public Health (London) Act, 1891.
The house-to-house inspection was commenced in 20 parts of the Borough
simultaneously, the great progress was made. Unfortunately, two of the
Inspectors in March, and a third in September obtained permanent employment
elsewhere. It was arranged for the Inspectors for Houses-let-inlodgings
to assist in the house-to-house inspection, and one of the Clerks,
Mr. McGrath, who was a duly qualified Sanitary Inspector, was appointed to
assist in the work. The inspection of the whole Borough was completed with
the exception of the southern portion of Burdett Road. Statutory notices
were served, but the final batch of Statutory notices will not be complied
with, until the second quarter of 1922.
During the year 1921, Statutory notices were served to remedy defects in
12,124 houses and were complied with before the end of the 1st quarter in
1922, in all, with the exception of 168 houses, and the work was in hand
in nearly all of these. This does not mean that this is the total number of
houses inspected, as in some, no sanitary defects were discovered, and in
others, the necessary work was done as the result of the serving of Intimation
notices only. These were not reported to the Public Health Committee, and
no Statutory notices were served.
At present the district Inspectors are employed together with the two
Inspectors diverted from the administration of the by-laws for houses-let-in
lodgings. The work of supervising the houses-let-in-lodgings is carried out
by one of the Clerks, Mr. Trimming, who has the status of a Sanitary
Inspector, and by Mr. Twynham, who is the Foreman Disinfector.
It was decided to continue the inspection, and the systematic house-tohouse
inspection was re-commenced, not necessarily with the streets inspected
in 1919. but with those streets where the houses are so old and worn, that it
is necessary to supervise their condition often. These probably want inspecting
once in two years, while others are in such a fair condition that systematic
inspection is not necessary oftener than once in five years or more.