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STEPNEY BOROUGH COUNCIL INFORMATION SERVICE.
I am indebted for the following information to the
Information Officer, Mr.J.Mordsley, who administers the
Service under the direction of the Borough Librarian.
During the year under review-, the number of persons
seeking information or. advice at- £he Information Centre
reached a total of 11,414. A full analysis of the enquiries
received is given overleaf.
The scope of the enquiries has remained as varied as
ever although' questions about rationing, trading conditions
and supplies'have decreased considerably, which perhaps is a
reflection of the steady return to pre-war conditions in
retail trading.
The housing position in Stepney still remains acute,
resulting in- many instances of "landlord and tenant" problems
and family disturbances, which are perhaps-inevitable when
young married- people with children are compelled to live at
the home of one of the parents. -Very often in these cases?
one or other of the parties concerned call at the Information
Centre for advice on ways of smoothing out the difficulties.
Enquiries connected with old.people remain a feature of
the work of the Information Service. The social legislation
of 1948 went a long way to relieve the financial problems of
old age, but'strange as*it may seem there are still many old
people whose pride or spirit of independence makes them
hesitate or refuse to apply to the National Assistance Board
for help, and who try to manage on the basic rate of their
pension plus any meagre savings they may have. There are
others who feel they are no longer wanted and live very lonely
lives mainly because they are unaware of the many facilities
now available to them in the borough. It is very satisfying
to be able to draw the attention of the various statutory and
voluntary organisations,who are both able and. willing to help,
to the cases brought to the notice of the Information Service.
An ever-growing index of authoritative and accurate
information has been built up at the Information Centre from
which immediate replies are given to many of the requests for
information received. On the other hand, some of the personal
problems cannot so easily be dealt with as many of them call
for the exercise of understanding and sympathy in extracting
the details, and when these are known, the experience,
knowledge and judgement of the staff are brought into play
in finding an acceptable solution.
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