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AIR RAID PRECAUTIONS.
This report would not be complete without some reference to
Air Raid Precautions.
Although the County Council is the scheme-making authority,
much of the work of providing and organising local defence
arrangements falls to the lot of the District Council. During the
past year these activities were extended at a phenomenal rate and
the whole of the Council's staff, and not least that of the Public
Health Department, have been increasingly engaged on this
particular task. Every effort has been made to maintain the
efficiency of existing services which, in themselves, need the fulltime
attention of the staff. The degree of success which has
attended this effort is a source of satisfaction to the Officers of the
Council, as it doubtless is to the body they serve. But what of the
future ? Is Air Raid Precautions to be a permanent feature of our
daily life ? Will the local Government work in connection therewith
remain at the present level ? These are questions affecting the
administrative organisation of local authorities which will have
to be faced, and when the situation becomes stabilised, if ever it
does, consideration will need to be given to the extent to which
Air Raid Precautions duties can normally be undertaken by
officers, for example the sanitary inspectors, who are appointed
specifically for other purposes.
A temporary increased effort, albeit a lengthy one, to meet a
national emergency at the risk of neglecting public services is no
doubt justified and is willingly made by those who serve the public
in their capacity as Local Government servants, but one cannot
contemplate the future efficiency of the public health services with
equanimity if existing conditions continue indefinitely.
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