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29
Besides these matters there is the vast addition to the clerical work,
by way of notices, registration, and reports to reduce the time available
for out-door work. To expect more from the present inspectors
is a mistake. They are already engaged early and late in order to
keep their work under control.
I am not ambitious that Westminster should excel the other
parishes in its sanitary administration. I shall be content if it
reaches an average standard of efficiency, and is able to give a good
account of the new and important duties now placed in the hands of
the Yestry. I have thought over the matter very carefully during
the past month, and should be false to the responsibility reposed in
me if I did not submit the following as a minimum addition to the
executive staff:—
(a.) A properly qualified sanitary inspector for lodging-house
work, but to be interchanged with the other inspectors if
required, at .£120 per annum, with the same scale of increase
as the others.
(b.) A clerk for the sanitary department at £'60 or £70 per
annum, with a sufficient increment to make it worth his while
to stay for a few years at least.
I would recommend that the third inspector be engaged before
the end of the present year so that he would be as absolutely under
the Vestry's control as the present officers are. Notwithstanding
that an appointment of an officer after the 1st January next might
enable the Yestry to obtain reimbursement of half the salary
(sec. 108) such appointment would be subject to the approval of the
Local Government Board, and, in my opinion, the independence
of central control in so simple a matter is worth half the salary.
I am not asking for a clerk for the inspectors, but for the general
clerical work for the department. This is now done by the inspectors
at the cost of much of the outdoor work. There are numbers of
forms to fill up, returns and reports to write out, and registers to keep
at present; what there will be in January under all these bye-laws
and new regulations, it is impossible to predict. Personally, I shall
be relieved by such help, if a young fellow of sufficient intelligence,
and capable of taking down dictation at shorthand, be chosen,
although I should continue the £30 a year I now pay for help of
this kind. There would be the advantage, in such an appointment,
of having someone acquainted with the work always in attendance at
the office to answer enquiries and generally to attend to the business
of the department.
The salaries of these two persons would be less than £200 a year,
and if the Vestry are able to discharge all their new duties for this
outlay, they will, in my opinion, make an economical arrangement.
To enable me to obtain all the details and measurements of the
underground rooms, a temporary man will be required for that
special work which may occupy a couple of months or more. When
once the register is compiled, the duty of periodical inspection will
devolve upon the lodging-house officer. I fully expect, however, that
the making out of the register of lodging-houses which will necessitate
ascertaining the exact cubical capacity of every room, will occupy at
least six months,