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6
HEALTH DEPARTMENT,
MUNICIPAL OFFICES,
380 OLD STREET.
E. C. 1.
Telephone: AMHerst 3351
To His Worship The Mayor, and to the Aldermen
and Councillors of the London Borough of Hackney
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honour to present to you my Annual Report for 1965, the first
annual report of the new London Borough of Hackney. It incorporates work done
by each of the three metropolitan boroughs - Hackney, Shoreditch and Stoke
Newington - and that of Division 4 of the London County Council.
The year has seen one of the greatest re-organisations of local government
in this country for at least 75 years, if not in the entire history of local
government as we know it. It did two things; it dissolved the large London
County Council which for many of its services covered the whole of Inner Londonand
covered them in many aspects with an excellent organisation, and at the
same time it united three metropolitan borough authorities - one comparatively
large, and two comparatively small. There was a long period of ground work
undertaken by officers of the previous county authorities and metropolitan
boroughs to provide a scaled down framework in which the local health authorities
of the new boroughs could work. Much praise must be given to the various
working parties who prepared reports that have been invaluable in the transitional
period and in the first months of the working of the new authorities. Without
the type of continuity that these reports gave, the institution of the new
borough would have been virtually impossible.
Apart from these working parties, the new borough owed much to the work
undertaken in the year immediately previous to 1965, by officers and members
alike in trying to lay down working structures for the new departments. For
many months before 1st April, 1965, there was a general feeling of restlessness
amongst the staffs who foresaw upsets both in their working and personal circumstances.
It says much for the London Borough of Hackney that most of the
staff of the three metropolitan borough health departments, as well as the
Health Division No. 4 of the London County Council, decided to accept appointments
with the new borough and did not look elsewhere. The new Health Department
faced immediately two problems, that of integrating staff from varying disciplines;
staff who had worked for one of the greatest urban local authorities in the
world, and staff who had worked for boroughs of some 50,000 people. It also
faced a geographical change from a small corner of Hackney Town Hall, and
various offices of the London County Council, to working in what had been
previously the Shoreditch Town Hall - an excellent building, but one which had
been adapted for a very different type of administrative set up.
The Health Department was the first department to move to new accommodation
and it would be foolish to say that there was no initial confusion in the placing
of staff, telephonic communication, etc. The main aim of the staff was to
continue to give to the public a service that was as little disturbed as
possible, and in the main this object was achieved although perhaps not 100%.
For most of the year many of the staff worked long hours in winding up affairs
of the London County Council and trying to put our own house in order, and I
would express my gratitude to them for doing this. Few of the senior staff
from Hackney left, but the loss of some of the staff from the London County
Council (Finance Section), and also of the Public Health Inspectorate caused
considerable difficulties.