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parents to give their children these benefits. It is becoming increasingly difficult
to maintain in the population an adequate proportion of protected children and this is
necessary if the ever-present risk of outbreaks is to be kept to a minimum.
Good housing is an important factor in the attainment and maintenance of health
and local authorities have been faced by the twofold task of providing houses (a) to
ease the general shortage, aggravated in some areas by war damage and (b) to replace
unfit houses. During the twenty-five years. 1939-63, there were erected in the Borough
2,230 houses by local authorities and 2,713 by private enterprise, housing
associations and other bodies and it is of interest to note that the proportion of the
population living at more than 1½ persons per room fell from 6.9 per cent at the 1951
census to 3.9 per cent at the 1961 census. The housing shortage continues and the
special needs of the aged and earlier age of marriage raise problems of the size of
houses to be provided and still maintain flexibility. A new feature of the housing
programme is the provision of high flat blocks. No doubt they reduce the encroachment
on the restricted space available for housing, but they present their own problems e.g.,
noise, heating, waste disposal, washing and clothes drying within the building and
space for prams, cycles and cars, play space especially for toddlers and facilities for
hobbies outside the dwellings. Cost has been responsible for cutting space within
houses to a minimum. Improved standards are needed to meet the needs of children and
young people, to provide for television, etc. and it is hoped that new building methods may
make this possible.
While new houses continue to be built, time does not stand still for old houses.
The conditions rendering a house legally unfit for occupation are laid down in the
Housing Act, 1357. This is a less rigid standard than that of the Housing Act, 1930
and falls short of the recommendation of the Central Housing Advisory Committee in
1946 and of the standards applied to discretionary improvement grants. In these days,
in addition to sound structural conditions, certain amenities should be considered
essential to render a house fit for occupation and the standard should not be less
than that applicable to improvement grants. During 1939-63, in addition to the Cranford
Lane, Pears Road, The Lawns (Bath Road), Linkfield Road and New Heston Road
Clearance Orders, 164 individual houses were dealt with by Demolition or Closing Orders
and essential repairs carried out at 5,777 houses under the provisions of the Housing
Acts. On the present legal standard of fitness, the great majority of the "slum"
property in the Borough, apart from small pockets in areas scheduled for redevelopment
or street widening, has been dealt with but too many houses still lack internal water
closets, baths, hot water supplies, etc. The housing shortage has encouraged the
occupation of houses by members of more than one family and new legislation has recently
been introduced in an effort to control houses "in multiple occupation".
It has always been the responsibility of a Health Department to secure that food
is "fit for human consumption" and is "of the nature, substance and quality demanded
by the purchaser " With the rapid development in recent years of ever widening methods
of preservation, storage, transportation, pre-cooking, pre-packing, etc. of food, the
Public Health Inspector must always be on the alert. For example raw meat, treated
in the Borough by an additive to enhance its appearance, caused unpleasant symptoms
when it was consumed elsewhere- the use of this preparation has now been prohibited.
These developments involve physical, chemical and biological processes and their main
advantage is to make all types of food available at all times of the year, but a constant
watch must be maintained to see that the methods are safe to use and free from
the risk of causing disease or illness. As some 60 per cent. of our food has to be
imported and as it is impossible to provide our largely urban population with entirely
fresh food, some method of preservation of imported food and much of our home grown
food is necessary. The increase in communal feeding in factories, schools, etc. during
and since the war brought outbreaks of food poisoning into prominence because of the
large numbers of persons sometimes involved in such outbreaks. Food hygiene in shops,
restaurants canteens, food stores etc. has received much attention. The improvement
in kitchen and shop equipment must be obvious to all, but this is not enough. In many
outbreaks the source of infection is a food handler and all who are engaged in the
handling and cooking of food must practice high standards of personal hygiene.
Since the earliest days of public health, effort has been directed to maintaining
the purity of water ana food, but only in recent years has attention been given to
the air we breathe. Smoke belching from chimneys was thought to be a sign of prosperity
and it has taken many years of effort by enthusiasts to convince us that smoke is
waste and that pollutants in the air are a menace to health and cause much material
damage. The death rate from bronchitis in this country is higher than elsewhere and
is twice as great in our large towns as in our rural areas. The Borough has made good
progress in its plan to render the town smokeless, but much remains to be done. New
developments in the gas industry are having effects on the supply of smokeless fuels
suitable for use in open grates and alternative fuels and methods of heating will have
to come into use. The co-operation of the public in our present smokeless zones has
been good but if (to a large extent) the open fire has to be adandoned in future smokeless
zones some resistance is to be anticipated. The Clean Air Act has been criticised
on the ground that it deals only with smoke and leaves the emission of sulphur gases
untouched. The search for methods of extracting sulphur from fuels and flue gases
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