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Table No. 7. Inspections.
Complaints investigated 2,676
Complaints reinspections 8,562
Outworkers' premises 223
Houses re Overcrowding 226
New houses re water supply 718
Houses re infectious disease 536
Houses re smallpox contacts 42
Houses re verminous cases 2,454
Houses re scabies cases 36
Houses re other diseases 9
Houses re Housing Acts 745
House-to-house inspections 382
Rent Restrictions Acts 9
Aged and infirm persons 1,620
Common Lodging Houses 16
Hostels 1
Tents and Vans 4
Factories 276
Workplaces 17
Shops Act 221
Food premises 2,183
Itinerant Vendors 24
Complaints re food 48
Pharmacy and Poisons 22
National Assistance Act 18
Water sampling and testing 58
Rodent control 2,878
Smoke observations 694
Theatres and cinemas 10
Urinals accessible to the public 25
Women's lavatories 69
Rag and Bone Dealers 1
Miscellaneous 4,193
Non-effectual visits 4,528
Table No. 8. Nuisances Abated.
Dirty conditions 1,297
Damp conditions 4,740
Dilapidations 5,422
Verminous rooms cleansed 636
Defective lighting 536
Defective ventilation 526
Defective paving 148
Drainage defects 1,271
Water closet defects 1,210
Dustbins provided 131
Water supply defects 133
Foul accumulations removed 41
Overcrowding remedied 74
Miscellaneous 434
Drainage.
The Borough Engineer is responsible for the inspection and supervision of
new drainage work. The reconstruction and repair of existing drainage is supervised
by the Health Department. The Sanitary Inspectors supervised the remedying
of some 1,271 drainage defects during the year and 141 combined drains were cleared
by the Department. Five private drains were also cleared, and for this work charges
totalling £5 10s. 0d. were made upon the responsible persons.
Provisions of Dustbins.
Under Section 105 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, if any house is
found to be without an adequate dustbin the Council may serve a notice on the
owner or the occupier requiring the supply of a dustbin at the house. A person
aggrieved may appeal to the London County Council (now the Magistrate's Court).
For many years, except in exceptional circumstances, the Council has regarded
the provision of a dustbin as a matter for the owner of the house. However, following
decisions in recent court cases, the Health Committee decided in 1951 that in future
where an objection was raised by a person receiving a notice under the Bye-laws
requiring him to provide a dustbin, the circumstances of each case should be reported
to the Committee, together with information as to the type of tenancy, the rental,
number of tenants, details of any sub-letting, whether there had been any negligent
usage of the previous dustbin; the financial circumstances of the occupier and the
owner; and any other relevant information, to enable the Committee to decide
whether the notice should be served on the owner or on the occupier.
Building Licences.
During the year, 1,444 applications for building licences were received by the
Borough Engineer, compared with 1,983 during 1950. Licences were issued in
respect of 1,128 of these applications.
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