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the main into two categories,, food containing extraneous material, and food
considered to be unfit for human consumption due to staleness, etc.
Much of the time of the two whole-time Pood Inspectors was taken up with
the supervision of food sold from stalls by street traders. Frequent inspections
of all stalls and of the associated storage accommodation were made.
The enforcement of the Food Hygiene Regulations in relation to stalls is by no
means easy, due to the construction of the stalls space available and other
difficulties. Any new applications from street traders wishing to sell foods
are referred to this Department for our comments before they are submitted to
the Works and Open Spaces Committee which deals with the licensing of street
traders. That Committee has accepted this Department" s recommendation that
new licences to sell foodstuffs will only be granted if the articles of food
are in prepacked containers.
Housing Two of the seven areas to be dealt with in the Borough Council's
current slum clearance programme remain to be represented. The next quinquennial
clearance programme will cover the years 1961-1965 and a survey of the
Borough has now commenced with a view to formulating proposals for inclusion in
this programme. The proposals to be submitted to the Ministry, jointly and
after consultation with the London County Council cover areas of two or more
unfit houses and also individual unfit houses they do not. however, include
unfit parts of houses and the Council will be aware that I have, on more
than one occasion, expressed concern at this omission, particularly in regard
to basement dwellings, of which there are a considerable number in this
Borough.
I have referred in the Housing Section of this Report to the judgment
given in the Court of Appeal in the case of Critchell v. Lambeth Borough
Council and the effect thereof on the Council's Underground Room Regulations.
As a result of this decision it may no longer be possible in considering
applications for the determination of closing orders relating to underground
rooms to insist upon the former higher standards of repair and
improvement.
The existing overcrowding register relates only to cases of overcrowding
which have come to the notice of the Department since 1945, The continued
movement of population during and since the war years has made it impossible in
the absence of a systematic survey of the Borough similar to that undertaken
during the years 1935-1936 to maintain accurate overcrowding records.
The Borough Council at its meeting in October agreed, in common with other
Metropolitan Borough Councils, to adopt the following standard of water closet
accommodation "One water closet for each household where practicable: and
where premises are let in lodgings at least one water closet for every eight
persons or one water closet for every four rooms whichever standard is the
higher. This decision followed the proposal by the London County Council to
repeal Byelaw No, 7 of the London County Council's Water Closet Byelaws which
provided that there should be not less than one water closet for every twelve
inhabitants of an occupied building, It was contended that this Byelaw was in
any case ultra vires having regard to the provisions of Section 11 of the
Housing Repairs and Rents Act, 1954, now Section 36 of the Housing Act, 1957,
which gives direct jurisdiction to secure fitness for occupation of houses let
in lodgings or occupied by members of more than one family
Reference to the work of the Department in relation to the Rent Act, 1957
is set out in some detail in the Housing Section of this Report. This Act has
resulted in a considerable increase in the work of both the administrative and
Public Health Inspectorial staffs mainly as a result of the multiplicity of
forms which now have to be used and the much more involved procedure for
obtaining a Certificate of Disrepair. Experience of the operation of the Act
to date is too limited to give any indication as to whether it will achieve its
intended purpose of encouraging more owners to maintain houses in good repair.
Whenever it is necessary for an inspector to visit premises for any purpose in
Connection with the Rent Act, action under the Public Health Act is instituted