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ADMINISTRATION OF THE SHOPS ACTS.
Owing to the increased work made necessary by the Shops Act, 1934,
which came into operation on the 30th December, 1934, the Council decided
early in 1935 to appoint a whole-time Shops Inspector in the Health
Department. The position was advertised in April, 1935, and although over a
hundred applications were received and several applicants interviewed none
was considered a suitable person for the appointment. It was then decided to
increase the salary offered and to re-advertise the position. As a result of this
a shops inspector who was also qualified as a sanitary inspector, was appointed
in October, 1935. The shops inspector eventually took up his duties on the
2nd November.
The duties of the part-time inspector under the various Closing Orders
and statutory enactments with regard to closing hours terminated on that day,
and the part-time duty on early closing days of the chief sanitary inspector also
then terminated.
The Shops Acts generally and the Act of 1934 in particular, afford
considerable scope to local authorities to raise the health standard of the
surroundings in which many shop-assistants have to work, and they also curtail
the maximum number of hours which may be worked by young persons. It is
obvious therefore that, if properly carried out, the Shops Act of 1934 can be
made a very valuable piece of legislation as far as the health of the workers is
concerned, and it is the intention of the Department to try to bring this about.
In the statistics set out below, giving the results of inspections to the end
of 1935, the work done previous to the appointment of the whole-time inspector
is omitted. The statistics therefore relate to only a few weeks at the end of the
year and are therefore necessarily small.

* These were dealt with by verbal caution.
† A certain number of possible infringements were under consideration at the end of the
year with a view to a standard being adopted.
‡Granted in January, 1936.
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