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7
made application to be permitted to become the local supervising
authority. In Middlesex, the districts which have been granted
these powers are the Boroughs of Ealing, Tottenham, Willesden
and the Urban District of Edmonton. With regard to elementaryeducation
the district must be the largest which is not a local
education authority, the reason for this being that the population
of not one of the three constituent districts was a certain minimum
at the 1901 census. Out of the twenty-nine sanitary districts in
Middlesex, the County Council is the local education authority in
sixteen, namely:—Feltham, Friern Barnet, Hampton, Hampton
Wick, Harrow, Hayes and Harlington, Potters Bar, RuislipNorthwood,
Southall-Norwood, Southgate, Staines, Sunbury, Teddington,
Uxbridge, Wembley and Yiewsley and West Drayton.
In ten of these, the County Council is also the Maternity and
Child Welfare Authority. If only with a view to effecting unification
of the health services of the district, it is regrettable that a
district of this size should not be its own education authority, a
position, however, which could not be altered except by legislation
apart from the district becoming autonomous for all services. The
complete severance of the maternity and child welfare services
from the school medical services, however, is, from certain points
of view, still more regrettable, and for the removal of this, means
as cumbersome as legislation are not required.
The vital statistics for the district are very satisfactory. The
general death rate is low; the mortality from the various infectious
diseases, including tuberculosis, is low; the infant mortality rate
is well below that of the country as a whole, and the maternal
mortality rate, while being slightly lower than the national rate,
is appreciably less than that of the preceding year. The incidence
of scarlet fever was heavy at the beginning of the year, but from
May onwards was light, while diphtheria has continued at its
exceedingly low rate.
During the year the Council took steps to promote the General
Powers Bill which contained many very useful public health
clauses. Although the desirability of the Council possessing these
very necessary additional powers was never at any time questioned,
these clauses went the way of the rest of the Bill.
I desire to thank the members of the Council and the
Administrative Staff for the help they have given me in the past
year.
I have the honour to be,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Your obedient servant,
E. W. CARYL THOMAS,
Medical Officer of Health.
Council Offices,
Harrow-on-the-Hill.
May 25th, 1936.