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Visits by social welfare officers for the blind.
Blind and partially-sighted 1,612 (1,926)
Number of lessons in Braille, occupational therapy etc. 283 ( 204)
Escort duties to hospitals, etc. 93 ( 248)
d) Transport arrangements
The Department has a specially designed ambulance capable of carrying
handicapped people in their wheelchairs to and from their own homes
to work centres, hospitals, etc. and has proved invaluable in the year
under review. A great deal of assistance is given also by voluntary
drivers and this is much appreciated.
Temporary Accommodation
The Council is responsible for providing temporary accommodation for
"persons who are in urgent need thereof, being need arising in
circumstances which could not reasonably have been foreseen, or in such
other circumstances as the authority may in any particular case determine."
The original interpretation of this definition was that temporary
accommodation was available for victims of fire, flood or similar disasters,
but a more liberal view was taken by the Council and the only qualification
for admission is that parents with dependent children are actually homeless.
This interpretation was confirmed by a joint Ministry Circular issued on the
31st October, 1966 which proposed new standards to be observed.,
To meet the demand for temporary accommodation, three houses are
provided at Sutton, Beddington and Carshalton. The first two accommodate
both parents and dependent children, whereas the last provides accommodation
for mothers and children. Altogether, 16 units are available and they
are generally fully occupied. At the present time, 10 out of the 16 families
are in temporary accommodation because they have been evicted from
Council property or private property for non-payment of rent and their
circumstances are such that it is unlikely that they will be able to pay off
the substantial arrears, thus necessitating their continued stay in
Council accommodation. Every effort is made to encourage the families
to re-establish themselves in their own homes and during the year these
efforts have met with some success. It is hoped that some long-stay units
will shortly be available where families can be more closely supervised on
their way to rehabilitation.
Receivership and Care of Moveable Property
Under Section 48 of the National Assistance Act, the Welfare department
has a duty to provide temporary protection of property of persons admitted
to hospital or residential accommodation where there is no other person
capable of accepting such responsibility and, during the year, five such
cases were dealt with.
This is an important responsibility which sometimes involves application
to the Court of Protection for a "Receivership " to be set up or to the
Official Solicitor for authority to deal with property. Inventories of
furniture and personal effects are made by the social welfare officers.
Disposal of the Dead
Under Section 50 of the same Act, the Council is responsible for disposing
of bodies where no other person will undertake this duty, and during the year
four such cases have been dealt with, the expense or proportion of expense
being recovered from any assets which were left by the deceased.
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