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To the Chairman and Members of the Chigwell
Urban District Council.
THE CHAIRMAN, MADAM AND GENTLEMEN,
I have pleasure in presenting the Annual Report of the
Chief Public Health Inspector.
I took up my appointment on the 1st July, 1960, and wish
to express my thanks to Mr. W.H. Digweed, my predecessor, for his
kindness and expert guidance. I also thank Dr. H. Franks, the
Medical Officer of Health, who has been unfailing in his
encouragement and support, and the source of much valuable
advice in the execution of my duties.
There has been a major change in office administration.
The filing system has been completely re-organised. Subject
files have been replaced by premises files so that all matters
appertaining to a particular premises are kept together in one
file. It seemed an overwhelming task but somehow Miss Warriner
and Mrs. Eaglestone, our clerks, have accomplished it, and most
expertly. This system should increase the efficiency of the
Department as a complete departmental history of each premises
is now immediately available.
The work of the Public Health Inspectors has also been
re-arranged so that each Inspector is now responsible for all
duties in the section of the District allotted to him. This
system has several advantages over specialisation. The experience
of the Inspector becomes more balanced, he has a smaller area to
travel and thus economises on time, he gains a more intimate
knowledge of the District and most important of all, I am sure
that he finds the maximum interest in his work. The Department
remains two Inspectors short of establishment.
The work of the Inspectors is outlined on pages 18 to
37. It will be seen that housing work has been confined to
dealing with disrepair. No unfit houses were included in
Clearance Areas and only one was closed. There are poor
dwellings in the District but action has been severely
restricted by the shortage and high cost of building land.
A further embarrassment to the Council is that the majority of
these houses are scattered. They have to be dealt with
individually and while the Council accepts the responsibility
for re-housing the tenants, the land vacated is unsuitable for
local authority housing.
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