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It will be seen that an Increasing proportion of confinements take
place elsewhere than in the mother's home. One of the causes contributing
to this is certainly the difficulty of obtaining domestic
assistance or the assistance of friends and relatives. The number of
maternity cases given assistance under the Council's home-help scheme
was 77 as compared with 51 in 1943 but owing to the shortage of suitable
women for this work the demand could not be met in full.
Foster-mothers are still in demand and careful watch has to
be maintained to see that the children receive adequate care and
attention and that overcrowding of foster homes in relation to staff
or space is avoided.
The water supply of the Borough is adequate and constant and
apart from a few isolated cottages every house has a supply direct
from the mains. The Sanitary Inspectors continue to give attention
to food supplies and environmental conditions. Shortage of labour
and materials continues to restrict the repair and maintenance of
dwelling houses and deterioration and overcrowding are prevalent. At
the end of the year 33 houses, subject to Demolition Orders, were still
occupied.
Complaints of milk being supplied in dirty bottles continue
to be received. The shortage of bottles and labour has been prevalent
in the milk trade but too many members of the public fail to apply the
most elementary rule of hygiene in handling of milk bottles: a milk
botule should be rinsed as soon as it is emptied and should not be
used for other purposes. There is no evidence of a reduction in the
misuse of milk bottles and the remedy would appear to be in the
replacing of bottles by containers which can be used once only.
In February 1944 Middlesex County Council delegated to the
local Council their powers and duties under the Rats and Mice
(Destruction) Act, 1919. To deal with this a Rodent Officer and one
operator were appointed and work commenced in May. The responsibility
for keeping premises free of rats and nice rests with the occupier.
Some occupiers have expressed the view that the Council should make no
charge for work done under the above Act. By whatever means rats and
mice gain access to premises their continued presence there is
generally due to conditions at the premises and it is proper that the
occupier should be required to do something about it.
During the year nuisance due to the emission of smoke and
grit from factory chimneys has received attention. This nuisance has
been severe on occasion and in each case the advice and assistance of
the Ministry of Fuel and Power has been sought as the type of fuel
supplied was given as the cause. The fuel has not always been the
most suitable for the type of furnace but careless firing has been a
contributory factor. In many factories the boiler attendant is given
too many other duties with the result that the boiler firing does not
get the regular attention necessary to reduce the emission of smoke to
the minimum.
The quantity of unsound food mentioned in the report as
seized or surrendered refers to food from retail premises in the
Borough, It does not include unsound food from N,A.A.F.I, or Govern-
4.