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Several inspections have been carried out under the Hoists and Lifts Regulations
made under this Act. These Regulations apply to all types of lifts etc. whether used for
passengers or goods. Every lift must be examined by a lift engineer every 6 months in the
case of a power operated lift and every 12 months in the case of a hand operated lift. This
engineer must give a written report in respect of this examination and this report must be
available for inspection by authorised officers of the Council.
A number of lifts were found to be defective on these examinations and appropriate
repairs were carried out.
Investigations were made into a number of accidents which were reported to this
Department. Many of these accidents were due to carelessness or lack of attention and
sometimes to disregard of rules as to the cause of accidents. It can be stated that most
accidents occur from negligence of employees in not following elementary instructions. There
were no serious accidents in this Borough.
Food Inspection
and Sampling
The inspection of food and food premises and the taking of samples of food forms an
important part of the work of the public health inspectors. Numbers of samples were taken of,
all types of food for chemical and bacteriological examination. Bacteriological reports Wi
samples of various foods are of great value in assessing standards of hygiene in the
manufacture, distribution, storage and handling of food. This type of report may disclose
defective refrigeration, inadequate cleansing of utensils equipment and premises and may
show defects in the process of pasteurisation or sterilisation.
Routine Public
Health Work
A large number of complaints continue to be received by the Department. These
complaints cover all aspects of the work and each one is investigated and appropriate action
taken as necessary.
Housing Acts
Mr.Butter, Deputy Chief Public Health Inspector contributes the following:-
In the field of housing, the year was notable at national level for the Government's
major re-appraisal of rents and housing finance. Complex changes are proposed to the system
of housing subsidies paid by the Exchequer to local authorities, involving an increase in the
amount payable to those Authorities with special housing problems. The proposals regarding
rents which were introduced in the White Paper 'Fair Deal for Housing' can perhaps largely
be summarised by one paragraph from the White Paper itself; "In the Government's view, the
right principle is first to determine a rent which is reasonable for the dwelling and then to
consider whether the tenant needs help towards that rent". In other words subsidies are to be
directed to people rather than bricks and mortar. This underlines the new Government's policy
of selectivity and it remains to be seen whether or not this new thinking will prove acceptable
to the man in the street be he private tenant, Council tenant or landlord. It is proposed that
rent controlled dwellings will become subject to rent regulation by a staged programme of
transition, and this principle will also be applied to Council owned dwellings. I feel it is an
indisputable fact that Controlled Rents have become so far out of line with the current cost of
property maintenance that the present system is actually promoting the deterioration of our
privately owned housing stock. The highly emotive question of the inclusion of Council
property in the new all embracing scheme is one which I do not propose to deal with here,
although it must be acknowledged that there are anomalies between the rents charged for
Council dwellings and those applicable to private tenants at the present time.
At local authority level, improvement of the housing stock within the Borough has
proceeded firstly by replacement of unfit and outworn properties and secondly by improvement
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