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accommodation, and, in particular, a large encampment near Banstead
Mental Hospital gave much trouble before it was eventually broken up
under threat of prosecution.
Schools.—Each of the 21 Elementary Schools is provided with water
from a public supply except Ranmore, in the Parish of Great Bookham,
which obtains water from a private well.
The Schools in the Parishes of Ashtead, Cheam, Cobham and Ewell
are provided with water-closets draining to the sewers. Banstead,
Burgh Heath Church of England, Tadworth, Bookham, Chessington and
Woodmansterne Schools have water-closets draining to cesspools. Burgh
Heath Wesleyan, Fetcham, Headley, Oxshott and Eanmore Schools have
earth-closets, and drains discharging into cesspools.
Notices are sent to the Head Teachers when a child is notified to be
suffering from infectious disease, both as to the patient and other children
living in the infected house, and a notice is sent subsequently on the
discharge of the patient from hospital.
The schools and homes of the patients are visited by the Health
Visitors of the County Council, on receipt of notifications from the teachers,
and I also visited the schools at times of outbreaks of infectious disease.
Each school was visited by me during the year, and was found to be in
a satisfactory condition.
IV.—HOUSING.
General Housing Conditions.—The figures relating to housing at the
Census, 1921, will be found on page 5. At the Census, 1911, there were
5,819 private families, with a population of 25,465, in approximately 5,560
houses ; in 1921 there were 6,994 families, with a population of 29,099, in
6,605 houses. The number of persons per house had, therefore, fallen from
4.84 to 4.47, but the number of families per house had risen by about one
per cent.
The survey of the District in 1919 revealed a considerable shortage of
houses in practically all of the Parishes, and numerous applications for
houses were then, and have since continued to be, received.
The District Council nrepared a scheme under the Act of 1919 for the
erection of 350 houses, of which 126 were erected before the operations
under that Act were brought to an end.
In December, 1923, the Council formulated a further scheme under
the Act of that year, and made application to the Ministry of Health for
permission to erect 300 houses and for payment of subsidy thereon.
There was considerable delay in proceeding with this scheme, mainly
owing to the inability of the Council to obtain tenders sufficiently low to
receive the approval of the Ministry, and they were unable to enter into any
contracts until the beginning of 1925. In the meantime they prepared
schemes for the land already in their possession and purchased other sites,
and good progress had been made by the end of the year.