[Report 1952] / Medical Officer of Health, Louth (Union) R.D.C.

  • Louth (England). Rural District Council.
Date:
1952
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1952] / Medical Officer of Health, Louth (Union) R.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    19/24 (page 17)
    Council house completions made available another 40 traditional brick buildings to bring the total of Council Houses now to 236 with 89 privately built in the post war period. There was nothing unusual about the results of the general inspection of, or repairs carried out to, properties. It will be seen accord¬ ing to the report that the great majorit}^ of the defects found were remedied by informal action and in 13 cases—most of which were of long standing—formal notices required to be served. No official representations were made under Sections 11 or 13 of the Housing Act 1936, though in one case an under¬ taking was given voluntarily and two owners agreed to carry out demolitions without recourse to formal proceedings This form of action undoubtedly saves time and work when the required results are achieved, but it has definite limitations as a form of procedure in dealing with such cases. Though still not large, the application for grants under the 1949 Housing Act was greater than other years. It was pleasing to note also the reduction in the number of occupants living in the temporary hut dwellings at Louth Park and Holton-le-Clay, which was reduced by 6 and 2 respectively. The total number living under such condition at the end of the year was therefore 16 SECTIOM E Inspection and Supervision of Food The Inspectors reported having paid routine supervisory visits to premises used for the sale and preparation of foodstuffs intended for human consumption and regarded the co-operation and progress as generally satisfactory. Many improvements, some large scale and others no less important because they may seem trivial were carried out. A step forward in providing the means of raising the hygienic conditions resulted from the pro¬ gressive spread through the district of water mains and, in more limited instances, sewerage systems which allowed the dry closets to be supplanted. It certainly cannot yet be stated that the food premises in the district have reached the stage of being satisfactory. The problems of lack of space and amenities in the smaller country retail shops are very real, but they must not excuse the neglect of attention to essentials. These days, all foodstuffs exposed for sale must be pro¬ tected with suitable covers and ample provisions made for hand¬ washing and for washing and sterilizing the shop utensils. To these basic essentials, a highly desirable addition in the larger modern stores is refrigerated storage accommodation. Here and there in the district properly {equipped shops are found, which invariably means that they conform satisfactorily in other respects because the standard of equipment necessarily governs the degree of observance of hygienic principles. The discrimin-