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68
PROCEDURE FOR ESTABLISHING SMOKE CONTROL AREAS
A Memorandum issued by the Ministry of Housing and Local Government sets
out in detail the procedure for establishing smoke control areas, which may be
summarised as follows:-
(i) Decision in principle on location and size of area, and types of
property to be included and notification to the Minister of provisional
plan.
(ii) Detailed survey of the area on receipt of Minister's comments on the
provisional plan.
(iii) The making of the Order and submission of same for confirmation,
(iv) After confirmation, action to bring the Order into operation, payment
of local authority grants, and claiming of Exchequer contribution.
SECTION 12 (Adaptation of fireplaces in private dwellings) enacts that if after
the confirmation of the Order the owner or occupier of a private dwelling not
being a new dwelling which is in, or will be in, a smoke control area has to
incur expenditure in adapting his heating arrangements, the local authority
shall repay to him at least seven-tenths of the expenditure; if they think fit
they may in any case pay the whole or any further part of the remainder. This
repayment is contingent on the work being done to the satisfaction of the
authority, and that it is done either before the order comes into operation or
is reasonably incurred as a result of a notice served by the local authority
requiring it to be done.
If an occupier who is not an owner of a house installs equipment that can
readily be removed.not more than seven twentieths of the amount due shall be
repaid until after tvro years from an order coming into operation, The remainder
shall then be paid only if the equipment has not been removed, and it shall be
paid to the person then occupying the dwelling
A local authority may serve upon the owner or occupier of a private
dwelling which is in a smoke control area a notice requiring the carrying out
of any necessary adaptations- In default of compliance with such a notice the
authority may execute the work themselves under the provisions of (in London)
Section 286 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1936, and recover payment of
three-tenths (or less) of the expenses incurred-
SECTION 13 (Exchequer contributions) empowers the Exchequer to pay two-fifths
of the cost of adapting fireplaces in all houses whether privately owned or
owned or controlled by the local authority The local authority's contribution
will be threes-tenths in the case of privately owned houses and six-tenths in
the case of their own houses,
SECTION 14 (Interpretation of two last preceding sections) defines the works
deemed to be reasonably necessary to avoid contravention of a smoke control
area order as -
(a) adapting or converting any fireplace; or
(b) replacing any fireplace hy another fireplace or by some other means
of heating or cooking; or
(c) altering any flue or chimney which serves any fireplace; or
(d) carrying out any operation incidental to any of the operations
aforesaid,
being works which are reasonably necessary in order to make what is in all the
circumstances suitable provision for heating and cooking without contraventions
of the said section eleven Expenses include the cost of fixing appliances
even though they may be easily removed without damage to the fabric of the
building- Appliances purchased under a hire purchase agreement will qualify
for payment as if the cash price of the appliance had been paid on the date of
the agreement.