London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Westminster 1889

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Westminster, The United Parishes of St. Margaret and St. John, Westminster]

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9
injudiciously So long as this discretion is vested
in them we think their word must be taken; the
only check would be, so far as we can see, a
personal inquiry of the parties to whom the
allowance was made A register of summonses
is kept by each collector, in which is entered the
individual cases in which the charges for summonses
are recovered or allowed ; but to test the
correctness of these entries, as above stated, it
would be necessary to make a personal enquiry
in each case

Your Sub-Committee have been supplied by the collectors with the information below in respect of the year ended at Lady-Day last:—

COLLECTORNo of Summonses ServedNo of Distress W arrants obtainedNo of Distress Warrants leviedNo of cases in which Summons Fee of 1/- was recoveredAmount of Fees recovered
£sd
Mr Aldin141241689490
,, J White77135180180
,, Briant51101025150
„ T EKWhite360125531587180
,, Waterman110511042220
Total73922394332£16120

It appears that in many cases of undoubted poverty in
which summonses are necessarily issued, the collectors
accept the rates when offered, without enforcing the fee
of 1s 4d for the summons The 4d due to the broker
for service in these cases is paid out of the fees of
1s 4d each recovered with the rates in the other cases
of default, from which fees, also, the broker's charge of
8d for each levy of distress is paid After making
these payments, the balance of the fees received is paid
to the Vestry's credit In Wards Nos 1 and 3, St
Margaret, these balances are stated to have been very
small
As the result of our enquiry your Sub-Committee submit:—
(a) That it is not desirable to insist upon payment of
the summons fee in every case, nor to disturb
the discretion exercised by the collectors
(b) That an improvement in the system might be
effected by requiring the collectors to pay to the