London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
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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Vestry represented llrf. in the £, or 21 3 per cent, of the sum assessed, as follows:—
| s | d. | s. | d. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| For the strictly local purposes of the Vestry—maintenance, lighting and cleansing of the roadway, footways, &c., and construction of sewers | 0 | 10 ½ | ||
| For expenses of Free Public Library | 0 | 0½ | ||
| 0 | 11 | |||
| For the relief of the poor, including expenses of the London County Council, Police, Metropolitan Asylums' Board, and Baths and Wash-houses. | 2 | |||
| For the expenses of the Metropolitan Board of Works (three months) | 0 | 2 | ||
| For the purposes of the School Board for London | 0 | 8 | ||
| Total for central purposes | 3 | 4½ | ||
| 4 | 3½ | |||
Before the new County Council had assumed jurisdiction
the Provisional Council, by its proceedings, gave a premonitory
warning that no relief would be granted in the
matter of their demands upon the ratepayers. In the preceding
year the rate for the Metropolitan Board had been
9d. in the £ ; in the year under review it became necessary
to include Is. O^d. in the £ in the Poor Rate—an increase
of 3£d. in the £, besides the 2d. in the £ required by the
Metropolitan Board to meet their liabilities for the last
three months of their existence. Thus the " improved"
system added o|d. in the £ to the burthens of the ratepayers
for the year; but the levying of so serious an
addition in one year was averted, at least for the time, by
the Vestry reducing the provision for their local requirements,
in the hope that the promised Government grants
would cause a compensating reduction by the close of the
year.