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322d28b1-2f91-4e59-ae7b-24faa2cc7e71 | Prescribed Groups:— Entrants 61 Second Age Group 90 Third Age Group 62 Total(Prescribed Groups) • 213 Other Routine Inspections — Total 213 84 TABLE II. A.—Return or Defects found by Medical Inspection in the Year ended 31st December, 1935. Defect ok Disease. Routine. Inspections. Special Inspections. No. of Defects. No. of Defects. Requiring Treatment Requiring to be kept under observation, but not requiring Treatment. Requiring Treatment Requiring to be kept under observation, but not requiring Treatmerit. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Skin:— Ringworm : Scalp — — 7 - Body — — 26 - Scabies 1 — 18 - Impetigo 4 — 252 - Other Diseases (Non-Tuberculous) 10 2 128 - Total 15 2 |
abb6bf54-c387-4542-bf70-707f38843eab | 431 - Eye : Blepharitis 15 — 79 - Conjunctivitis 2 — 25 - Keratitis — — 1 - Corneal Opacities — 1 4 - Other Conditions (excluding Squint) — — 58 - Total 17 1 167 - Defective Vision 98 2 116 - Squint 13 7 7 Ear : Defective Hearing 1 27 7 2 Otitis Media 11 2 17 1 Other Ear Diseases 11 4 113 - Nose and Throat : Chronic Tonsillitis only — 1 — - Adenoids only — — 3 - Chronic Tonsillitis and Adenoids 45 15 9 - Other Conditions — 4 1 Enlarged Cervical Glands (NonTuberculous) - 416 - 70 Defective Speech 1 3 25 - 85 Defect ok Disease. Routine Inspections. |
ec76bb94-0995-4438-8c36-1b57a4a7c673 | Special Inspections. No. of Defects. No. of Defects. Requiring Treatment Requiring to be. kept under observation, but not requiring Treatment Requiring Treatment. Requiring to be kept under observation, but | not requiring Treatment. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Heart and Circulation: Heart Disease: Organic — 10 — - Functional — 16 1 - Anaemia — 5 — - Lungs : Bronchitis — 6 — - Other Non-Tuberculous Diseases — 4 — - Tudaculosis : Pulmonary : Definite — — 1 - Suspected — 2 — Non-Pulmonary : Glands — 1 1 - Hones and Joints — — 4 - Skin — — — - Other Forms — — 1 - Total — 1 6 - Nervous System : Epulepsy — — — - Chorea — — 3 - Other Conditions - |
27b54b06-2ca2-40c1-99cb-4b64d6547cde | 1 — - Deformities : Rwkets 1 28 1 - Spinal Curvature - - — - Other Forms 1 1 — - Other Meets and Diseases (excluding Underliness and Dental Diseases) - 41 618 8 Total 214 599 1525 82 86 B.—Classification of the Nutrition of Children Inspected during the year in the routine age groups. Age-groups Number of Children Inspected A (Excellent) B (Normal) C (Slightly submornal) D (Bad) No. % No. % No. % No. |
f8120c3e-7058-4b3a-b506-f725fc4cec24 | % Entrants 968 410 42.3% 473 48.8% 77 7.9% 8 .8% Second Age-group 696 293 42.09 347 49.8% 46 6.6% 10 1.4% Third Agegroup 684 213 31.02 446 65.2% 23 3.36 2 .29 Other Routine Inspections — total 2348 916 39.01 1266 53.9% 146 6.2% 20 .85 TABLE III Return of all Exceptional Children in the Area. BLIND CHILDREN. At Certified Schools for the Blind. At Public Elementary Schools. At Other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. - — - — 87 PARTIALLY SIGHTED CHILDREN. At Certified Schools for the Blind. At Certified Schools for the partially Sighted. |
07d04a86-c77c-4bc6-a994-965880ae74c9 | At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. — 3 1 1 - 5 DEAF CHILDREN. At Certified Schools for the Deaf. At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. 4 — - — 4 PARTIALLY DEAF CHILDREN. At Certified Schools for the Deaf. At Certified Schools for the Partially Deaf. At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. — — - - - — MENTALLY DEFECTIVE CHILDREN. Feeble-Minded Children. At Certified Schools for Mentally Defective Children. At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. 45 - — — 45 88 EPILEPTIC CHILDREN. Children suffering from savere Epilepsy. At Certified Special Schools. |
b070fc22-43fa-4bf5-9432-0f6a242a7894 | At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. 3 - - - 5 PHYSICALLY DEFECTIVE CHILDREN. A TUBERCULOUS CHILDREN. 1.—CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS, (Including pleura and intra-thoracic glands) At Certified Special Schools. At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. — 1 . - 1 - H.—CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM NON-PULMONARY TUBERCULOSIS At Certified Special Schools. At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. — - 7 - 7 89 B. DELICATE CHILDREN. (ie) Whose general health renders it desirable that they should lx specially selected for admission to an Open Air School. At Certified Special Schools. |
d4969f19-1f8b-42ba-833d-37481860a6e0 | At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. 1 2 1 4 8 C. CRIPPLED CHILDREN. (ie) (Other than those diagnosed as tuberculous and in need of treatment for that disease) who are suffering from a degree of crippling •ufficiently severe to interfere materially with a child's normal mode of life. At Certified Special Schools. At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. 4 1 — 5 D. CHILDREN WITH HEART DISEASE. (ie) Children whose defect is so severe as to necessitate the provision of educational facilities other than those of the Public Elementary School. At Certified Special Schools. At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total. - 1 2 1 4 90 CHILDREN SUFFERING FROM MULTIPLE DEFECTS. |
b1b6d688-cbf6-454e-a9b0-097e32e9c784 | Combination of Defect. At Certified Special Schools. At Public Elementary Schools. At other Institutions. At no School or Institution. Total Mental Deficiency & Crippling 1 1 TABLE IV. Return of Defects treated during the Year ended 31st December, 1935. Treatment Table. Group I—Minor Ailments (excluding Uncleanliness, for which see Group VI.) Disease or Defect. Number of Defects treated, or under treatment during the year. Under the Authority's Scheme. Otherwise Total. (1) (2) (3) (4) Skin : Ringworm-Scalp (i.) X-Ray Treatment. 4 — 4 (ii.) Other Treatment. |
e79ce9f7-15e0-4911-bae2-b5d071d438ba | 3 3 Ringworm-Body 26 — 26 Scabies 18 - 18 Impetigo 252 — 252 Other skin disease 128 - 128 Minor Eye Defects : (External and other, but excluding cases falling in Group II.) 166 - 166 Minor Ear Defects 125 9 134 Miscellaneous (e.g., minor injuries, bruises, sores, chilblains, &c.) 618 618 Total 1337 12 1349 91 Group II.—Defective Vision and Squint (excluding Minor Eye Defects treated as Minor Ailments—Group I.) Defect ok Disease. (1) No. of Defects dealt with. Under the Authority's Scheme (2) Otherwise (3) Total. (4) Errors of Refraction (including Squint) 435 4 439 Other Defect or Disease of the Eyes (excluding those recorded in Group I.) |
b9d6a82d-1037-417b-b873-71f157fdf3fd | 23 - 23 Total 458 4 462 Total number of children for whom spectacles were prescribed— (а) Under the Authority's Scheme 296 4 300 (b) Otherwise 296 4 300 Group III.—Treatment of Defects of Nose and Throat. Number or Defects. Received Operative Treatment. Received other forms of Treatment Total number treated Under the Authority's Scheme, in Clinic or Hospital By Private Practitioner or Hospital, apart from the Authority's Scheme Total (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4. 11 2 64 - - - 5 1 11 2 69 1 - 83 (1)—Tonsils only. (2)—Adenoids only. (3)—Tonsils and Adonoids. |
0470df75-0f88-4bb9-8196-6d3265ef4719 | (4)—Other defects of the Nose and Throat. 92 Group IV.- Orthopaedic and Postural Defects. (1) Under the Authority's Scheme. (2) Otherwise. Residential Treatment with Education. (i) Residential Treatment without Education. (ii) NonResidential Treatment at an Orthopaedic Clinic. (iii) Residential Treatment with Education. (i) Residential Treatment without Education. (ii) NonResidential Treatment at an Orthopaedic Clinic. (iii) Total No. Troatod. No. of Children Treated. — 2 — — 1 2 5 93 Group V.—Dental Defects. (1) Number of Children who were :— (a) Inspected by the Dentist : Aged : l 5—705 0— 733 7— 613 8— 723 Routine Age Groups 9— 764 10— 756 11— 818 12— |
5fe6343a-8ea0-415d-95ce-328c9d6cd966 | 621 13— 687 14— 131 Total 6551 Specials 520 Grand Total 7071 (2) Found to require treatment 4965 (3) Actually treated 3152 (4) Attendances made by children for treatment 4349 (5) Half-days devoted to :— Inspection 41 Treatment 472 Total 513 (6) Fillings:— Permanent teeth 2020 Temporary teeth 68 Total 2088 (7) Extractions:— Permanent teeth 850 Temporary teeth 4638 Total 5488 (8) Administrations of general anaesthetics for extractions 2249 (9) Other operations :— Permanent teeth 229 Temporary teeth 78 Total 307 Group VI.—Uncleanliness and Verminous Conditions. |
b7b8850f-9231-4d1e-a4c4-122b6e8e5f31 | Average number of visits per school made during the year by the School Nurses 14 Totall number of examinations of children in the Schools by School Nurses 21909 Number of individual children found unclean:— Vermin and Nits Slightly infested 449 Number of children cleansed under arrangements made by the Local Education Authority 14 Number of cases in which legal proceedings were taken:— (a) Under the Education Act, 1921 (b) Under School Attendance Byelaws 1 94 STATEMENT OF THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN NOTIFIED DURING THE YEAR ENDED 31St DECEMBER, l935, BY THE LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITY TO THE LOCAL MENTAL DEFICIENCY AUTHORITY. Total number of children notified 5 Analysis of the above Total. Diagnosis. Boys. 'Girls. 1. |
aa13961a-71a1-4896-88f9-e92efec546b2 | (i) Children in capable of receiving benefit or further benefit from instruction in a Special School: (а) Idiots (b)Imbeciles 3 (c) Others (ii) Children unable to be instructed in a Special School without detriment to the interests of other children : (а) Moral defectives (b) Others 2. Feeble-minded children notified on leaving a Special School on or before attaining the age of 16 2 3. Feeble-minded children notified under Article 3, i.e., "special circumstances" cases 4. Children who in addition to being mentally defective were blind or deaf Grand Total 2 3 We are, Your Obedient Servants, D. J. THOMAS. E. MADELEY. |
01039289-9c2d-4abd-8c34-8922edf35825 | Act 39 Borough of Acton. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Medical Officer of Health TOGETHER WITH THE Report on the Medical Inspection of Schools for the year 1936. annual report OF THE Medical Officer of Health FOR THE YEAR 1936. Public Health Department, Municipal Offices, Acton, W.3. To the Mayor, Aldermen and Councillors of the Borough of Acton. Ladies and Gentlemen, I beg to submit the Annual Report for 1036, required by the Ministry of Health, together with the Annual Report on the School Medical Services. One of the most important developments in the year was the overcrowding survey, and a report upon the results ascertained is included. I have also included a brief survey of the social conditions of the district as these conditions partly explain the housing problem of to-day. Area.—The area of the district is 2,317 acres ; there has been no change of boundaries since the last report. |
5865180b-9dd4-4756-b30c-bc40697b9a74 | Rateable Value.—The rateable value of the Borough on 1st April, 1036, was £774,716, and a sum represented by a penny rate was £2,825 (year ended 31st March, 1036). The number of inhabited houses, according to the Rate books at the 31st March, 1936, was 16,722. 4 Extracts from Vital Statistics.—The following table gives the extracts from the vital statistics required by the Ministry ol Health POPULATION 69,140. Total. M. F. Live Births. Birth-rate per 1,000 of estimated population—12.72 Legitimate _ 845 453 392 Illegitimate 36 11 25 881 464 417 Still Births. |
9e5fbf3f-a595-43f5-9a34-a22b8e9d3182 | Legitimate 26 14 12 Rate per 1,000 births 33 Illegitimate 3 2 1 29 16 13 Deaths 794 Death-rate per 1,000 inhabitants 11.5 Deaths from Puerperal causes (Headings 29 and 30 of the Registrar General's short list). Deaths Rate per 1,000 births No. 29 Puerperal Sepsis 1 1.13 No. 30. Other Puerperal causes 1 1.13 Death-rate of Infants under 1 year of age. All infants per 1,000 births 68 Legitimate infants per 1,000 legitimate births 66 Illegitimate infants per 1,000 illegitimate births 153 Deaths from Measles—all ages 10 Deaths from Whooping Cough 6 Deaths from Diarrhoea—under 2 years of age 12 POPULATION. |
61b52df1-4acf-47aa-ab58-eeef4f44ffd6 | The Registrar General has given the estimated population for mid 1936 at 69,140, an increase of 180 on the estimate for mid 1935, and a reduction of 1,370 on the Census population. The number of parliamentary electors in Acton since 1931 las been as follows :— 1932 48,126 1933 48,245 1934 48,228 1935 48,258 1936 48,813 The number of new houses erected during the last five years were:— 1931-32 257 1932-33 188 1933-34 224 1934-35 134 1935-36 380 SOCIAL CONDITIONS OF THE DISTRICT. Although there has been no sudden or dramatic change in the social conditions of the district, a gradual one has been in operation for many years and the process still continues. |
2abd978b-a1b9-47fe-a83e-cc6acf96d401 | It is only when some event occurs which brings to mind the conditions which obtained at the beginning of this century that we appreciate the transformation which has taken place in the character of the neighbourhood. Acton was a residential area, with are important industry; the laundry industry was the only one which provided employment for any considerable number of the inhabitants. The other residents were mostly employed in London: the laundry industry alone employed local labour : a far larger number of persons left the district each morning for their employment in other areas Chan arrived here for the same purpose. The night population was a much larger one than the day population.. These conditions have entirely changed, and the district has become industrialized ; there are still areas which are residential and these only now form the dormitory of London workers. There are now more people coming in to the district than go out ; the day Population is higher than the night one. It is impossible to assign a date to the origin of the change: it is not an event it is a gradual process. |
ba295dcd-a05c-406f-bd33-59c7bbb2bcb3 | It is in many respects identical with the industrial revolution which in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century transformed the North of England and the Midlands into industrial areas, and similar forces have been in Operation here. 6 In the industrial revolution, improved communications — turnpike roads, canals, railways,—combined with mechanical inventions—power-loom, steam power,—and the commercial use of coal and iron, substituted the factories for the domestic workshop. The internal combustion engine, the application of electricity to industry, and other inventions, have had the effect of removing many industries to the neighbourhood of London, and Acton, in common with other suburbs, has become the seat of many and varied industries. In each case, a world wide upheaval had an effect, if not in originating the change, at any rate in accelerating it. |
d41bfc78-0d28-431c-8d5c-a75c7918dd33 | In the industrial revolution, the economic and other effects which accompanied and followed the Napoleonic Wars profoundly affected the industrial development of the first quarter of the nineteenth century: the Great War also determined the course and nature of industrial developments and inventions, and we are not yet aware of the final issue. Fortunately for Acton, there is one outstanding difference between the two periods: the industrial revolution caught this country unawares and unready. The new towns were built hastily and without foresight or regard to town-planning. Houses were put up regardless of soil, site, convenience, curtilage, water-supply, drainage, sewage, treatment—small in capacity, poor in structure, damp, unventilated, badly lighted, back-to-back. There was overcrowding of houses on the land and people in the houses. In most instances, the sole object of the builders seemed to be the erection of the maximum number of bouses on the minimum of space. |
caa9f758-6f2f-4abb-a351-edcc18774352 | There were problems of cleanliness, feeding and education: the control of infectious disease was almost non-existent and epidemics were frequent. Young children, of as young as six years of age worked in the mills, and the normal hours of employment were 17 a day. The new towns sprang up in the pre-sanitation era, and the local administrators of those towns are even now reaping the legacy of the unpreparedness of the period and trying to remove the burden by slum clearance schemes. We have been saved from these difficulties. Until the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Acton remained small and until the dawn of the twentieth century it had only one industry. Its development took place after the sanitation era: the vast majority of its houses have been built after the adoption of building bye-laws, and the installation of a complete sewage scheme. The growth of Acton was very slow in the first half of the nineteenth century. |
cbb244dc-9f2d-4ee6-8c17-8ffd87cb1721 | The population in 1801 was 1,425 and in 1861 it was 3,151. Most of that increase occurred in two decades 1821 7 31 and 1851-61. In the interest of the present day, the late development was fortunate. The first Public Health Act was passed 1848, and this was a permissive one. The procedure for the adoption of this Act was a cumbersome one, but it was simplified by the Local Government Act of 1858. In the middle of the eighteen sixties, the district began to develop; certain laundries were started in the southern area and houses were being built north of the Uxbridge Road. As the only sanitary' authority was the Board of Guardians of the Brentford Union created under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, some of the inhabitants foresaw the danger of a haphazard development and called a meeting in October 1865 for the purpose of adopting the Local Government Act of 1858. |
902bfe63-d103-469d-b34f-4365957d1bb5 | As usual there was opposition and a poll was demanded. The result of the poll was 371 in favour and 143 against. Following the poll a Local Board of Health was formed and the first meeting of the elected Board was held in March 1866. The newly formed Local Board of Health adopted bye-laws (among other matters) for new streets and buildings, and those were approved by the Home Office in August, 1866. The value of the steps taken was soon evident, because in the following years there was a great increase in the population; the population, estimated in 1866 at 4,876 inhabitants, had increased at the Census of 1871 to 8,306. These facts are mentioned as they partly explain the oftrepeated statement that there are no slums in Acton, in the usually accepted sense of the term. |
2000d6f1-5287-44c7-8691-2396cfa67731 | The development of the district took place when the mistakes of the past had been discovered and precautions had been adopted to prevent the recurrence of the deplorable conditions which obtain in the older towns. It would be idle to suggest that the district has developed under ideal conditions: we can always be wise after the event. The earlier application of a town planning scheme the acquisition of certain sites, the retention and development of certain activities might have altered the amenities of the district and decided the character of its social conditions: but it is futile to speculate on what might have been: my duty is to report on the social conditions as they now exist, and more especially their bearing on the public health. It would be impossible to trace all the changes which have occurred, and are taking place, as they would require a consideration of all the various industries and their bearing upon the social conditions of the district. Moreover, the changes which issued from the establishment of the newer industries are of a more complex 8 character. |
aa5f29ea-361b-4cfe-890c-1d5fd20af642 | These latter employ far more persons than the district could absorb or accommodate as residents, and though methods of transit have modified the effects, they still do affect such conditions as housing, drainage and hospital accommodation. The issues which have emerged from the changed conditions in the laun dry industry, are, in a sense, simpler in their character. Until the dawn of the present century, most of the laundries in the district were hand laundries, and these took on the character of the domestic workshop, in which most of the work was done by the members of the family, assisted by a few neighbours, frequently relations, and usually treated as members of the family. There were a few factory laundries in which mechanical pow er was utilised, and the work specialised, but the majority of the workers were employed in the hand laundries. These condition existed up to the outbreak of the Great War. |
6e86eee5-4766-42c9-a031-d09823291342 | Prior to that momentous event, there were indications of pending changes, but it was that event which precipitated the substitution of the domestic workshop laundry by the power laundry. Many factors operated in the change —economic as well as industrial. The difficulties of supplies, the scarcity of labour, the changes in the means of transport, the keen competition—all played a part. The result has been the gradual and probably the inexorable disappearance of the hand laundry and concentration of the work in large factories, where most of the work is done by machinery and most of the processes have become mechanised. The work also has become specialized. The tub and dolly have cisappeared, together with the other familiar equipments of the old laundries. It was formerly held that Rheumatism in particular was especially prevalent amongst the women employed on account of the damp conditions. The actual washing is now done in bag-washers and other closed containers, and then passed through the hydro-extractors operated by men. |
14843dec-7da1-4d8d-ab46-2da9b93c0eb2 | Married female labour was largely utilised, but this has not been eliminated by present conditions. Although most of the work has become mechanised, some of the processes still require an extensive experience as well as individual skill, and some of the most experienced and skilful are married women. This need for marieed female labour operates in diverse ways: it has its attendant evils as well as its economic advantages to the families concerned. the Day Nursery was established to meet the demands of the married women who worked in the laundries, and from its continued popularity, it shows that the demand still exists. Though Nursery 9 classes have been established, in some of the schools in the neighbourhood, the Day Nursery still works to capacity, and there is always a waiting list. |
848068b0-eb9d-4540-8e77-0cf2442dd02b | Although the Day Nursery was established by a voluntary body, it was looked upon with sympathy, and supported by the Council's Health Committee, because it was believed that the conditions under which the babies were being minded, contributed to the high infantile mortality of the South-West Ward in those days. The necessity for married women labour tends to stabilize the industry in a neighbourhood where such labour is available, but it has its disadvantages ; disadvantages which are inseparable from a factory established in a residential neighbourhood. In North Acton, on the Chase Estate, complaints about the factories are infrequent. This is partly due to the fact that the tmildings are new and built for the purpose for which they are used. Klectric power has been installed in most of these new factories; where steam power is utilized, the newest type of boiler has been installed. They are well ventilated and well lighted. In addition, the factories are situated away from dwelling houses. |
f75f8335-9fbb-4c40-b41a-ad525be324cd | Although many of the factory laundries are equipped with the latest types of machinery some have been adapted from other buildings and extended, and complaints of smoke nuisances, noise of machinery and other unpleasant conditions are frequent. There are of course, grounds for these complaints, but it is probable that if these conditions were present in factories in North Acton, they would either be unnoticed or at any rate they would not give rise to complaints. The laundry industry may be said to have been self-contained: the laundries were almost all situated in the south-west part of the district. There used to be a large laundry in the centre of the town, but the buildings are now used for other purposes. The only other self-contained community were the railway employees who lived at the other extreme end of the district near Willesden Junction. They were connected with the old London and North Western Railway, now merged in the London, Midland and Scottish. |
115b3dfb-2980-4d60-8822-3e38337ebca5 | (It must not be inferred that these are the only, or even that they form the majority of the railway workers in the district: simply that they were self-contained in a particular area. There are many employees of the London Passenger Transport Board testing throughout the district, and especially in the South-West Ward. Great Western Railway employees are especially numerous in what is called the Great Western Estate around Noel Road). 10 The establishment of new industries started early in the twentieth century, when several firms connected with the motor, dyeing and printing industries started work in Acton Vale on the south side of the Uxbridge Road. At that time an attempt was made to house the employees of the new works, and the streets on both sides of the railway were built for, and occupied to a great extent by, those who had been attracted by these industries. A few large works were also established in the northern part of the district. Roughly, this was the position when the Great War broke out. |
270e6c1b-81c4-41ce-ab29-88e3fb0cb6a8 | The South East and the South West Wards were fully developed and built over. More than half the North East and the North West Wards was unbuilt and it was uncertain on what lines this land would be developed. During the War, the Government required the land around Goddard's farm and erected large buildings on it which were used as filling factories. Most of the workers employed in the Munition Works at Park Royal lived in the district, and it was estimated that the population of the district in 1917 was 65,219 inhabitants, and in 1918 it was 66,000 inhabitants. At the Census of 1931, the population was 70,510, and in 1921, 61,299. On the conclusion of the war, this land was acquired, and in time factories were built on the whole site. This land was situated in the North West Ward. |
a6eef593-0c14-495f-a9ad-9cdc769554b2 | Some of the undeveloped land on the North East Ward was acquired by the Council, and houses suitable for the working classes were erected. The other land in the North East Ward was acquired by private interests, and practically the whole of the land in this ward which was undeveloped at the end of the war has been used for the erection of residential buildings of different types. The factories erected in the North West Ward on what is called the Chase Estate are so numerous and of so varied a character that a description of them would require far more space than can be spared in this report. In one sense, they are not of as much importance as the old ones, as a large proportion of thoses employed in them do not reside in the district. In a few instances the owners have provided not only places of employment but also residences for the employees, but these are in a great minority. There are main reasons for these differences between the pre-war and the post-war factories. |
1af4ed68-1f5e-4e1b-8b1a-d0dfab93b121 | Some of the latter removed from London and a large number of the employees did not change their residence. 11 Another reason may be aduced. It is well known that in Acton as well as in other western districts of Middlesex, the chief lines of communication—railways and arterial roads—run east and west: transport and especially passenger transport facilities are better and easier east and west then north and south. As these factories are situated in the northern part of the district, it is easier for the employees to reach their work from other districts than it would be from the south of Acton. Although this represents the case in a general way, many, of course, would prefer to live in the district, so as to be near their work, but there is nothing like sufficient housing accommodation in the district for all the employees in the area. Limited housing accommodation in the district renders the housing problem a difficult one to solve. The supply will always be less than the demand, and the competition tends to force up the rents. |
9dedfd52-4d9c-48de-9e7d-caeaef2a0380 | There will always be a sufficient number of people in these factories who are willing to pay a few shillings weekly more for accommodation near their work rather than expend it on bus or rail fares, to ensure that the demand will exceed the supply of houses of a character within reach of the class of worker employed at the local factories. The wages of the unskilled worker at these factories average about 50/- weekly. (The skilled workers, of course, earn more). A decontrolled flat, consisting of a kitchen, living-room and two bedrooms, fetches from 15/- to 20/- a week—far too high a proportion of the wages for rent. In a district like ours, one of the unavoidable disadvantages of the presence of these factories is the artificial raising of rents for certain classes of workers, while the wages do not rise in a corresponding manner. In spite of the Speenhamland example and its vicious results, we are frequently compelled to supply milk and food to mothers and children though the husband is in full employment. |
9116e7fa-01b2-4c5f-9d8f-98d47c181db8 | On the other hand the introduction of the numerous and diverse industries into the district has been the means of providing work not only to the residents of Acton, but also to many who live in neighbouring districts. Even in the period of acute depression a few years ago unemployment did not loom very large. On December 31st, 1936, the total numbers of persons (aged 18 to 65), resident in Acton and registered as wholly unemployed were as follows— Men. Women. Total. 799 182 891 The total amount of out relief in cash and in kind disbursed by the two Relieving Officers in the Acton area for the year 1936 was £17,968 11s. 10d. 12 Coincident with this development of the district, a definite change has been, and is, taking place, in other respects. To anyone who has a fairly long recollection of the district, the changes which have occurred are patent. |
d23e7494-77cc-4038-adad-3e6117652c7c | No one would recognise Bedford Park of to-day from the description in a book published less than a quarter of a century ago. In it Bedford Park was described as a garden city, the architecture of its bouses modelled in the Queen Anne type, and inhabited chiefly by artists, literary people, leisured people, and persons holding positions in London and finding it easy of access to their business. The South-East Ward is still entirely residential in its character, but some of the larger houses have disappeared and in many of the streets, the houses are divided and sublet. One of the most noticeable changes in the district is the disappearance of the large residential houses, most of them situated in their own pleasure grounds, of considerable extent. The same changes are possibly occurring in all the inner suburbs of London. Whatever the cause, these large houses are disappearing. Some have been pulled down and other buldings have been erected 'on the site : some have been adapted for other purposes : very few remain still as private residences. |
e1432576-d0eb-4d83-99a2-4a628424e337 | Changes have also occurred in many of the houses which contained from five to nine bedrooms : a large number of these have been converted into tenements. It is not suggested that these changes have been brought about entirely because of the industrialisation or even the urbanisation of the district. Other factors have been in operation, chiefly economic. The domestic servant question here as elsewhere, has been a factor, possibly one of the most important. The domestic help problem is general throughout the country, but it is more acute in the neighbourhood of factories. It is not only the large houses which are now let in tenements. The majority of the houses in Acton were originally intended for one family, but most of them are now occupied by two or more families each. If an examination of the Census returns of 1931 be made, and a comparison made of Tables ten and eleven in the County of Middlesex Volume, this point will at once he made clear, as the following figures, extracted from these tables, will show. |
591652cb-85e0-4a1f-b06c-37e0aae39278 | Structurally separate dwellings and separate families occupying— 1 room 31 1 room 1085 2 rooms 110 2 rooms 1920 3 rooms 636 3 rooms 4650 4 rooms 2197 4 rooms 3535 5 rooms . 2843 5 rooms 2980 6-8 rooms 6973 6-7 rooms 3497 9 or more rooms 1022 8-9 rooms 820 10 or more rooms 189 13 A structurally separate dwelling has been defined for the Census as any room or set of rooms, intended or used for habitation, having separate access either to the street or to a common landing or staircase. Thus each flat in a block of flats is a separate unit: a private house which has not been structurally subdivided is simlilarly a single unit whether occupied by one family or by several families. |
e7b6eb0d-8efb-4928-9003-51c194c2a8cd | Only 777 tenements of three rooms each or less conformed to the definition of the Registrar General of structurally separate dwellings, but 7664 of these were used as tenements, and it is only reasonable to conclude that the majority of these houses of sis rooms or less were originally intended for one family. AMBULANCE FACILITIES. The ambulance facilities are similar to those described in previous reports. There is a motor ambulance for the removal of infectious cases to the Isolation hospital, and two ambulances provided for accident and non infectious cases. The latter are housed at the tire station and are available at all hours. Last year the ambulance was called out to 561 street accidents, and on 3S3 occasions to private cases. Fees amounting to £69 12s. 6d., were paid for the use of the ambulance for private cases. There has been no development or marked changes in the services provided in the area under the following heads:— Laboratory facilities. Ambulance facilities. |
8c11a212-3bc9-4708-8f95-1c72ff59cfd6 | Nursing in the home. Clinics and Treatment Centres. Hospitals—Public and Voluntary. HOSPITAL PROVISION. General.—The only General Hospital in the District is the Acton Hospital, Gunnersbury Lane, which has an accommodation of 72 beds. During the year 1070 patients were admitted ; this is a decrease of 199 on the previous year, but is due to the fact that the Children's Ward was closed for 5 months owing to the rebuilding. The new Male and Childrens Wards were not in use until October and November. The beds have been continuously occupied and the average number of patients resident daily was 53.37. 14 The Education Committee continues its agreement with the Hospital for payment for the removal of tonsils and adenoids and the patients are now taken in for a night prior to the operation as well as being kept in for a night agfter the .operation. |
09390424-3474-4222-85e8-5dd8a2e1d0fb | 9006 Out-Patients were treated during the year, an increase of 498 and the Out-Patient attendances were 46,106, an increase of 8,988 as compared with 1935. The enlarged Out-Patient Department and the new PhysioTherapy and X-Ray Departments are proving of immense value. Fever.—Acton Council Fever Hospital. Small-Pox.—Acton was one of the constituent bodies which formed the Middlesex Joint Small-Pox Board. Under the Provisional Order Confirmation Act of 1929, the Joint Board was dissolved from the 1st April, 1929, and the duties of the Board transferred to the Middlesex County Council. Tuberculosis.—The Tuberculosis scheme is administered by the Middlesex County Council which has sanatoria at Clare Hall and Harefield. Child Welfare Consultation Centres. (a)—47, Avenue Road—Every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. |
ba5c6186-f21f-4549-9fb5-cc524086f9a3 | (b)—John Perryn—Every Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. (c)—Steele Road—Every Tuesday and Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. (d)—Noel Road—Every Thursday afternoon at 2 p.m. Ante-Natal Consultation Centre.—School Clinic every Wednesday at 10.30 a.m. Day Nursery.—169 Bollo Bridge Road. School Clinic.—45 Avenue Road. (The above are provided and maintained by the Borough Council). Tuberculosis Dispensary.—Green Man Passage, Ealing, W.13 on Monday at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 10.30 a.m. First and Third Tuesday in each month at 6 p.m. 15 Treatment Centres for Venereal Diseases.—Various Hospitals in London. (The two latter are provided by the Middlesex County Council). PROFESSIONAL NURSING IN THE HOME. |
c6efeac7-f3c1-42f7-b381-b49b3b700022 | General.—There are three district nurses employed by the Acton Hospital, who visit the homes of both the poor and those who are able to pay. There are also nursing associations which provide nurses for different classes of cases. Midwives.—The Supervising Authority under the Midwives Act is the Middlesex County Council and from the County Council I understand that there are 27 certified midwives practising in the Borough. LEGISLATION IN FORCE. The following local acts, special local orders, general adoptive acts and byelaws relating to Public Health are in force in the district. |
ec7d0dfd-9bc8-43a4-bad3-0d12ca5fe42f | Adopted Infectious Diseases (Notification) Act, 1889 1889 Public Health (Amendment) Act, 1890 1890 Infectious Diseases Prevention Act, 1890 1899 Notification of Births Act, 1907 1907 Public Health Act, 1907 (Clause 50) 1921 Public Health Act, 1925 (Parts 2, 3, 4 and 5) 1926 The Acton Improvement Act, 1904 — New Streets and Buildings 1925 Removal of House Refuse 1899 Common Lodging Houses 1898 Slaughter Houses 1924 Nuisances, &c. 1924 Offensive Trades 1903 Tents, Vans and Sheds 1906 Removal of Offensive or Noxious Matters1908 Cleansing of Cisterns 1912 Employment of Children 1920 Fouling of Footpaths by Dogs 1929 Smoke Abatement 1930 Houses let in Lodgings 1934 16 HOUSING. |
1b6c7af1-d9b3-44c1-a083-4c0c1e96819c | Overcrowding Survey. The provisions of the Housing Act of 1935 which relate to overcrowding are familiar to most of the Council, and especially to the members of the sub-committee who were appointed to deal with the survey carried out under the Act. Numerous reports were presented to the Council upon the general provisions of the Act and special reports were made upon the overcrowding revealed by the survey. It may therefore be desirable to deal again in a general way with the overcrowding provisions of the Act before the details of the survey are given. The principal object of the Act is laid down in its first sentence, which states that it is "an Act to make further and better provision for the abatement and prevention of overcrowding As an administrative measure, the Act differs in many respects from previous Housing Acts. |
27de5826-e71a-4aee-b7d5-cc72a7081831 | In this Act the primary object is the relief of overcrowding; in former Acts overcrowding was shelved or made subsidiary to the requirements of town planning, town amenities, &c. In the Act of 1935 not only under certain conditions is overcrowding an offence punishable by fine in the case of both the occupier and the landlord, but it also provides the machinery for the enforcement of the provisions against overcrowding. Until the present Act, there was no way of reducing overcrowding which was workable, or which did not produce worse conditions, than those it sought to remedy. Now that we have the remedy it is our business to apply it. The Act will not work itself, and it will be some time before the ideal can be attained. There may have to be some compromise between what should be done and what can be done; between what legally can be enforced, and what socially it is advisable to enforce. |
d8dbd2b2-9a40-4cf7-b0d6-7126fc996840 | Although a definite standard would appear to be essential in the prevention of overcrowding, before the passage of this Act there was no standard which applied to the whole country. There were certain standards laid down for different purposes, and local authorities made bye-laws for common lodging-houses, and for houses-let-in-lodgings. For army barracks 600 cubic feet per person is laid down, and rooms occupied both day and night in common lodging-houses must have 400 cubic feet per head of space as must non-textile workrooms during overtime. The earliest bye-laws for houses-let-in-lodgings were adopted in Acton in 1899, and under these 400 cubic feet for each adult and 200 cubic feet for each child under 10 had to be provided if the rooms 17 were used for both living and sleeping purposes. If used for sleeping only, the figures were 300 cubic feet for adults and 150 cubic feet for children. |
6b003bd1-2edc-4a07-93a9-b5d86bc348d2 | In 1934, these bye-laws were revised, and floor space was adopted as the standard; each adult was to be provided with 40 square feet and 30 square feet for each child. Other authorities adopted bye-laws in which the standard was sometimes based upon cubic capacity and at other times upon superficial area. But under the Act of 1935, definite standards are laid down below which overcrowding is presumed to exist, and these standards are applicable to the whole country. Although these standards have been criticised, they are an advance on the low standards and unsatisfactory bye-laws with which most authorities had to manage in the past. Two standards are laid down, the first dealing with persons per room, and the second relating the floor area of the rooms to the number of inhabitants. The number of persons permitted to use a house for sleeping is the lesser of the figures obtained by using both bases of calculation. |
7732385e-4bbc-4f2a-b05d-02f63bc4ef61 | In the first schedule to the Act, the two tables showing the method of calculation are inserted, and they are as follows:— Table I.. Where a house consists of:— The permitted number of persons is:— (a) One room 2 (b) Two rooms 3 (c) Three rooms 5 (d) Four rooms 7½ (e) Five rooms or more 10 with an additional 2 in respect of each room in excess of five. (In using this table, a room of less than 50 square feet is not counted as a room). Table 2. Where a room in any house has a floor area of:— (a) 110 sq. feet or more 2 (b) 90 sq. feet or more, but less than 110 1½ (c) 70 sq. feet or more, but less than 90 1 (d) 50 sq. |
daa88f8b-aa4f-4ef0-9f4f-8cd33dde2efa | feet or more, but less than 70 ½ (e) Under 50 sq. feet Nil. These tables have been criticised from both angles—insufficiency and prodigality. On the one hand it has been held that the 18 standard is too low when it is remembered that living rooms are counted in the total accommodation available. For example, in a three bed-roomed house with kitchen, scullery and living room, the number of units authorised to use that house for sleeping purposes is 10, and there is no power in the Act to compel these persons even to use all the bedrooms. The Act of 1935 does not directly prohibit overcrowding in the public health sense—that is, more than a given number of persons in a given space; it only makes it possible for this not to happen. It is no offence for ten persons to sleep in one room if the house they occupy allows ample accommodation for their sleeping properly. |
b124e7e4-de50-40c0-bfc5-a07f8bf1ba52 | Similarly Section 2 (1) (a) providing for proper separation of the sexes is an admirable clause, in its intention calculated to promote decent living and reduce incest, but its enforcement unless there is an infringement of the overcrowding provisions is practically impossible. On the other hand, the conment has been made that table 2 takes no account of rooms which are larger than 110 square feet, and this may prove to be a disadvantage in connection with some of the older houses with large bedrooms. Section 4 gives the Minister of Health the power, on the application of a local authority and after consultation with the Central Housing Committee, to modify temporarily the overcrowding standard in its application to houses in the district of a particular local authority or in any part of that district. The section sets out the circumstances which must exist before the Minister can make an order. One of these is that in the whole area of the authority, or in some defined part of it, a large proportion of the accommodation for the working classes consists of houses with large rooms. |
ed5e409b-c597-43b0-9368-4d8fad976ea0 | We have no area in our district in which there is a large proportion of the accommodation consisting of houses with large rooms. Some houses have been sublet in which the area of the rooms exceeds 200 square feet, and a few in which the area exceeds 300 square feet, so that we do not apprehend a considerable amount of hardship. But a man and wife with one child over one year of age, living in one room, no matter how large that room may be, breaks the law. If a case of infringement of the law is brought to court and proved, the magistrates must convict, but there is no compulsion to bring a case where the infringement is trivial, technical, or capable of accommodation without legal action. |
396a68ee-ab39-4b96-944c-ec174bda1dec | To deal with any small number of houses with large rooms which may exist in a district, Section 5 of the Act provides that the local authority may, upon the application of the occupier or intended occupier of such a dwelling-house, grant him a licence (not exceeding twelve months) authorising him to permit such number of persons in excess of the permitted number as may be specified in the licence to sleep in the house, and a copy of such licenœ must be served upon the landlord. 19 In spite of these apparent theoretical objections, which probably will not operate unfavourably in practice, the fact remains that for the first time we have a standard of overcrowding laid down in an Act of Parliament. This is of paramount importance, though in the case of family overcrowding the standard may operate harshly. As the Act stands, many families would require rehousing at intervals. |
8361bac0-d6b2-4167-83a7-9f54b9b90556 | A "house " as defined in the Act, may be within the Act one week and without it the next, without any change either in the house itSelf or its inmates save such as occurs from the passage of time. family overcrowding will require some sympathetic management. the Ministry recognise this and admit that breaches of the Act must occur and must be permitted temporarily. With harsh administration. the Act might become a dead letter, but with careful insistence on its provisions, it can eventually abolish overcrowding. It may posssibly help us to obtain a better perspective of the overcrowding which the Act is intended to mitigate if we review the Conditions which have obtained. The conditions which obtain throughout the country do not particularly interest us, except in so for as they seem to be somewhat similar to those which obtain here. The census of 1931 showed that 397,000 families, or 3.9 per cet. of all families, were so housed that there were more than two persons per room. |
d7937e12-560f-400f-97be-cf99d27c8898 | Of these 183,000 families had more than three person per room, and 56,000 more than four persons per room. While 3.9 per cent. of all families had more than two persons per room, the overcrowding population was actually 6.9 per cent. of the whole, or approximately 2,775,000 persons. The 1921 census gave 497,133 families with more than two persons per room, so that the census of 1931 showed a reduction of about 100,000 families living under these conditions—an appreciable improvement over a ten-year period. In the four years ending 1935, 845,387 houses have been built by private enterprise, as against 59,406 built by local authorities under the 1930 Act, and 143,875 under the Wheatley Act. |
1bcba00d-a16f-4a0c-b303-8ccdb950ca42 | If We leave out the 59,406 houses built under the 1930 Act, which roughly replaced demolished houses, 989,262 houses have been built to deal with an overcrowded population in 1931 of approximately 2,275,000 plus the natural population increment since the census The results of the survey under the 1935 Act are not exactly comparable with those which were obtained at the census. The primary Object of the survey was to ascertain in each area even case of overcrowding which existed at the time of the survey, together with Sufficient details relating to each case to enable the local authority to formulate proper plans for dealing with the overcrowding. 20 The secondary object was to give the local authority a substantially accurate position of the amount of working-class accommodation in their area, and the number and size of the workinclass family occupying that accommodation. |
c72e396b-b79c-42cd-a43b-81078fcab05d | The value of the survey for these purposes is not substantially affected by the fact that the statistics obtained have, for various reasons, no claim to be regarded as exact and uniform in the sense of the census returns. The fact must however be borne in mind, if the statistics are used to make comparisons between areas. The range of houses covered by the survey varied according to the criterion adopted by the authority to ensure that all workingclass houses were inspected. For example, where every house in an area was included, the resulting percentage of overcrowding relates to the whole population, whilst in those districts in which the houses surveyed were selected, the resulting percentage of overcrowding relates not to the whole population but to the particular areas which were selected for the survey. These figures probably are a fair index of overcrowding in the working-class dwellings in these localities, but they should not be taken as a criterion of overcrowding in the whole district, nor for comparative purposes. |
55f4ca3f-f0a6-4491-b347-2439da293133 | A few instances from the report will show the difference in the practices in areas around London. District. Population. Dwellings surveyed. |
4cdab2a0-86a9-4aa6-b993-300dcc938808 | Percentage Overcrowded (a) Ilford 151,390 43,541 0.7 (b) Harrow 144,280 12,943 1.2 (a) Walthamstow 134,490 36,735 1.6 (b) Hendon 134,160 13,292 4.1 (a) East Ham 135,400 38,422 2.2 (b) Ealing 137,550 15,234 2.1 (a) Edmonton 96,320 26,241 1.5 (b) Wembley 99,120 8,659 2.2 In districts (a) probably most of the dwellings were included in the survey, whilst in districts (b) less than one-half, possibly not one-third, of the dwellings were so included. |
23992827-80fe-45be-83bc-6a4805ac6390 | Of the house not included, a very small percentage, if any, would have been found to be overcrowded ; so that, if all the houses in districts (b) had been included in the survey, the percentage of overcrowding would have been considerably reduced. As one of the objects of the survey was to ascertain the amount of overcrowding in working-class dwellings, no useful purpose would be served by the inclusion of all the dwellings in those districts in which a very large number of the houses are occupied by people who are not usually included in the term " working classes." 21 In Acton, 16,942 dwellings were inspected, and this number represents over 80 per cent. of the total houses in the district. The definition of "room" in Section 12 takes account of the custom of the locality. |
1fb346ec-37fc-41c3-9956-5aa93ee1d9f0 | In those areas where it is customary to use a large kitchen for living purposes, that kitchen would be counted as a room; in those areas where it is customary to have a small kitchen, not usually used for living purposes, that kitchen would not be counted as a room. It is probable that even in areas where customs and conditions are comparable, the decisions of the local authorities as to what constitutes a room are not completely uniform. In Acton, the two forms of kitchen are met with ; the more numerous is that type in which there is a small scullery used for cooking purposes. In our survey the scullery was net reckoned as a room. In many instances, especially in the larger houses, one of the rooms has been converted into a kitchen, and though used for all purposes, it was, of course, reckoned as a room. Local authorities also varied in the way they have tabluated the less usual forms of occupation. |
55e3fd38-e161-4e5f-b8c5-1cd90e9d5663 | For example, one house may be occupied by two unrelated families who may have separate bedrooms but share equally all the other accommodation. Some authorities classified this as two families, dividing the accommodation between each according to circumstances ; other authorities treated this as one family with lodgers. This variation of standard also accounts for the difference in the number of one-roomed, two-roomed, &c., tenements obtained in the survey, as compared with the number of the several roomed tenements or families in the census report. The rule followed here was to reckon a lodger, if he occupied a furnished room, or obtained his meals with the family, as part of the family, and included in the tenement occupied by the family. If, on the other hand, the lodger Occupied an unfurnished room and obtained his meals outside, or Cooked his own meals, the lodger's room or rooms were reckoned as a separate occupation. |
f0d20c3a-7504-407c-a398-eb7f07bea8cd | There are 1,536 housing authorities in England and Wales from whom returns should have been received. When the Report on the Overcrowding Survey was published in July 1936, 1,472 authorities had submitted returns in a form which enabled them to be included in the summary tables for the whole country. The 22 authorities not included were, for the most part, small, and in terms of population the summary tables cover nearly 99 per cent of the whole country. These tables disclosed that 8,924,523 dwellings were inspected, and that 341,554 dwellings were found to be overcrowded, so that in England and Wales, at the time of the survey, 3.8 per cent, of families whose dwellings were inspected were living in overcrowded conditions. If these figures are compared with those which were ascertained as the census, it will be seen that the improvement which was observed in the intercensal period 1921-1931 has been continued since. |
049f038a-6193-4bc8-a42f-fab9c8f2dbca | At the census, the standard of overcrowding was based upon the density of more than two per room ; the standard at the survey is higher. But though the figures are encouraging, the Report shows that the position cannot be accepted with complacency For instance, in one of the tables, it is shown that there are 4,185,000 families who have more than double the amount of accommodation required by the overcrowding standard ; which means that these families, constituting over 46 per cent, of all the working class families in the country, are so well housed that the number of persons in each family could be doubled and yet overcrowding would not ensue. On the other hand, the same table shows that a variable* of the overcrowding standard which reduced the permitted numjfcaj for a dwelling by 10 per cent, (it is not suggested that a various* of this precise form is practicable), would increase the nunibuji families who would be overcrowded by about 380,000. |
a1789aa1-5a74-44f5-90e1-d933605ab95e | Iu elH< j words, 4.4 per cent, of the present uncrowded families are yv\ j near the border-line of overcrowding. j I " The ideal standard of housing may perhaps be taken 4 ! the standard outlined in Section 37 of the Housing Act 1930. is the standard which is applied in certain circumstances to thtfhousing activities of local authorities. It is not a detailed starniu.'"- > but provides only that a new house containing two bedrooir-S count as providing accommodation for four individuals, oltt Ce*' taining three bedrooms for five individuals, and one co:itfcW«j four bedrooms for seven individuals. The size of the bo:M*y. is left unspecified, but since in new houses one of the bedr< least is usually small, the standard may be taken to be equivJfcpf to two individuals per normal sized bedroom, together with*®-" quate living accommodation." |
10c43fdc-27c6-4134-bad4-c3b9469ec195 | If this hypothetical standard were accepted as a h**number of families overcrowded would be raised from 3r/- < to 853,119. 23 The worst overcrowding is shown to be, for the most part, concentrated in two areas; the East End of London, and the NorthHast Coast. The County of London and the Geographical Counties of Durham and Northumberland together contain over 130,000 overcrowded families, or about 40 per cent, of all the overcrowded families in the country, while the percentage of total population in these areas is only 16. The foregoing figures, taken for the most part from the Report on the Overcrowding Survey in England and Wales, enables us to appreciate more fully the problem of overcrowding, and explain some of the results obtained here. Moreover, in recent years, the overcrowding question in Acton has become merged partly into that of London and Greater London, and its solution is not entirely dependent upon local efforts. |
79b9b6fa-14c3-4c33-a607-0d1806870e57 | In the early part of this century, Acton in a housing sense, may have been a self-contained unit, but owing to the establishment of large factories within its area, and the improvement in transport facilities, local effort has played only a minor part in the solution of the overcrowding problem. In the census report for 1921, figures were given which showed that the number of people who came daily to the district to work was greater than that which left the district to work in other areas. In other words, the day population was higher than the night population. Unfortunately, the figures for the 1931 census have not been published, but the phenomenon noticed in 1921 undoubtedly became more marked during the intercensal period, and the day population in 1931 increased relatively more than the night population in the ten years, and although the night population according to the Registrar General is decreasing, the day population at the present time is higher than it has ever been. |
4224d36e-ed0c-40b4-8f16-8d568741bcdd | Owing to the proximity of factories, there will always be a keen demand for working-class dwellings here, and there will be a number of people who will prefer to pay more rent in order to be near their place of employment. As transit improves, distance will become less of a handicap, except of course, on the score of expense, and for this reason rents may always tend to be higher here ; otherwise overcrowding here will be dependent not only on the conditions which obtain in the district, but also upon the scarcity or otherwise of working-class accommodation in neighbouring districts. Overcrowding is not a recent feature of the housing problem in Acton, and a perusal of the Annual Reports of the Medical Officers of Health and of the Census Reports will show that overcrowding has always been o:ie of the most prominent features of our housing difficulties. The first Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Acton which was printed was that for 1SS8, and Dr. |
4316b592-1e7b-4cbe-819d-f373313049f0 | 24 Prowse then wrote, "only one owner has been summoned during the past year for this offence (overcrowding). It has been my desire to prevent as far as possible this evil, but it is difficult to deal with these cases as strictly as could be wished, as, owing to the present large population of the poorer districts, overcrowding becomes almost necessary a condition." The same tale is disclosed in the Census Reports. The Census Reports contain tables which give the number of occupants in the different-sized tenements, the size of families, &c. Certain items differ in the census tables from those in the survey tables owing to the difference in the interpretation of certain terms. A structually separate dwelling has been defined for the census as "any set of rooms, intended or used for habitation, having separate access either to the street or to a common landing or staircase." |
dfb26449-bdf4-4172-a160-88de2d7db141 | Any person or group of persons included in a separate return as being in separate occupation of any premises or part of premises is treated as a separate family for census purposes, lodgers being so treated only when returned as boarding separately and not otherwise. In the survey, on the whole, we adopted a wider interpretation of a separate dwelling, and included as a separate tenement many which were excluded at the census, because they had no separate access. On the other hand, our interpretation of a separate family was a narrower one than that adopted at the census, so that many lodgers who made a separate return at the census were not considered separate families in the survey. In the survey, tenements and separate families are practically one and the same thing. In making a comparison between some of the figures obtained at the survey and those of the census returns, these facts must be borne in mind; when comparing one census return with another, the same objections do not apply. |
2e882df3-b57e-4345-82fd-54c2d1f3ef88 | A study of the census returns shows that overcrowding slightly increased in each of the periods 1911 and 1921, but in the intercensal period 1921 to 1931, there was a marked decrease in overcrowding based on the standard of over two ner room density. This will be made clear by the following; table:— Year. Total Families. Number Overcrowded Percentage Overcrowded. 1901 8,326 502 6.0 1911 12,965 816 6.3 1921 14,947 994 6.6 1931 18,997 813 4.3 25 It is unnecessary to examine in detail the figures of the two earlier censuses, but it is of interest to compare the figures of 1921 and 1931. The population increased from 61,299 in 1921 to 70,510 in 1931, or an increase of 15 per cent. |
b5391501-5788-42b0-9a46-59e6283422a2 | There was an increase of 2,309 houses, or 20.07 per cent., but there was an increase of 4,056 private families, or 27.15 per cent. In spite of this; there was a decrease in overcrowding in private families from 994 to 813, or from 6.6 per cent, to 4.3 per cent., and in the number of persons overcrowded at more than two per room density from 6,478 to 5,165, or from 10.71 to 7.47 per cent. This apparent paradox was possible because of the consistent and continual decrease in the average size of the families. size of the families. |
f0620852-0d22-4b7a-a36e-da30a736d0c8 | This becomes very evident from the following table:— Average number of persons per family 1901 1911 1921 1931 4.53 4.43 4.05 3.64 The average size of the family did not decrease much in the intercensal period 1901-1911, but in the 20 years 1911-1931, the average size was nearly one person less in the latter than in the former year. The overcrowding in the intercensal period 1921-1931 decreased in almost every class of dwelling, but the most marked decrease was in the three and four roomed tenements, as the following tables show:— 1921 Rooms in Tenement. Number of Tenements Overcrowded. |
1a473438-e6b2-4367-858a-2a559b1a2688 | 1 946 254 2 1,383 178 3 3,827 429 4 2,727 101 5 1,881 23 6 2,824 9 over 6 1,353 — 1931 1 1,065 244 2 1,929 219 3 4,907 266 4 3,535 64 5 2,980 16 6 3,558 2 over 6 1,023 2 26 There is one other table from the census which throws a light upon overcrowding. The following table gives the density of occupation in houses which were overcrowded and those on the borderland of overcrowding:— Population at following densities of occupation. (Persons per room) over 3. 3 & over 2. 2 & over 1½. 1½ &overl. |
56a14f4e-ff80-46a3-b5ed-9428e4b69863 | 1921 829 5,649 13,506 9,541 1931 1,259 3,906 8,623 13,392 At the census there were 123 families of three persons, 72 of four persons, 27 of five persons, 13 of six persons, 7 of seven, 1 of eight and 1 of nine persons occupying one-roomed tenements. Of the tworoomed tenements overcrowded, 122 were occupied by five persons. 49 by six, 31 by seven, 8 by eight, 6 by nine, 1 by ten, and 2 by eleven persons. Of the three-roomed tenements overcrowded, 137 were occupied by seven persons, 62 by eight persons, 36 by nine, 22 by ten, 7 by eleven, I by twelve, and 1 by fifteen persons. Of the four roomed tenements overcrowded, 39 were occupied by nine persons. |
f6040378-bffc-457d-a7bc-a85d75bec6e2 | 16 by ten persons, 5 by eleven persons, aud 5 by twelve persons. Of 5,165 persons who lived under conditions of more than two persons per room density, 926 were in one-roomed tenement.s, 1271 in two-rooms, 2,103 in three rooms, 636 in four rooms, 187 in five rooms and 42 in six rooms. The Registrar General has given the estimated population for the middle of 1935 at 68,960, a reduction of 1,550 on the census Pop ulation. Part of this reduction is due to the readjustment of bound aries which took place in 1934. |
7f7cde6c-27f7-49a5-8fd2-184001e03f56 | The number of new houses built since the census have been :— 1931-1932 257 1932-1933 188 1933-1934 224 1934-1935 134 1935-1936 380 Allowing for the reduction owing to the readjustment of boundaes according to the Registrar General there lias been a decrease of about 1,000 in the population, and towards this smaller population 1,183 houses have been built. On account of the movement of Popoalation, it is difficult to estimate the number of families or houses that would be overcrowded at any date, but it was reasonable to assume that we should find less overcrowding at the survey than was found| at the census, and this assumption was found to be correct. Approx- 27 imately 12,000 houses were inspected, containing 16,943 tenements. |
9c74d07e-15ef-4842-99b6-c8e8d4e221ce | Of these, 316 were definitely overcrowded, that is, there were more persons occupying the premises than would be allowed under table 1. There were 1,352 others possibly overcrowded, and the number of lettings overcrowded on the basis of both table 1 and table 2, was 430. Before we deal with the figures in detail, it may be necessary to describe the methods adopted and the forms used at the survey The Act did not prescribe any particular method by which the inspection was to be carried out, and local authorities were at liberty to use the method they considered most suitable. The Minister of Health drew up a procedure and forms of survey which in his opinion could be generally adopted. Returns on a uniform basis were necessary to enable the Minister of Health to obtain a complete picture of the housing conditions in the country as a whole. We followed the procedure laid down by the Ministry, and adopted the forms which they issued. |
549b08b1-e4a8-4f9b-a82d-03373e5261e1 | There were four forms to be filled up, three of which concerned the survey—Forms A, B and C. A better idea of the work of emuneration will be obtained .if the forms are inserted. Form A is inserted here. Form A. Overcrowding Survey—Preliminary Enumeration. (1) Address or Situation of Premises. (2) Name of Occupier. (3) Description of Property. To BE FLLLED IN By ENUMERATOR. To BE KILLED IN AT OFFICE. Names of No. of No. of persons Equiva - Permitted No. Whether Tenants & habit- normally sleep lent No. over- Sub- Ten- able ing therein sleeping Actual Reduced crowdeo ants. |
91d05081-4ca8-48bc-b1b6-10718730359f | rooms persons (7b) (7c) (7d) (4) (5) (6) in the j dwelling, 10 Under (7a) or 10 over 28 Form A was the one used in the preliminary survey, The preliminary survey was made to ascertain the number of families and of persons in each family and the number of rooms occupied by each family. This preliminary survey would show whether the family was overcrowded on the basis of Table 1, but would not, however, disclose those families which, though not overcrowded when regard was had solely, to the number of rooms in accordance with Table 1, would nevertheless be found to infringe the standard when Table 11, which takes account of the size of rooms, is applied. |
fb39ef73-9a61-47c3-860c-36a26907d098 | A family which is not overcrowded according to Table I, but which is overcrowded when Table II is applied must be very near the overcrowding level of Table I. This part of the survey was therefore made to show the number of families definitely overcrowded, and also those who might possibly be overcrowded. The exact extent of the overcrowding could only be ascertained by measuring the rooms definitely and potentially overcrowded. Potential overcrowding was ascertained by using a table which was based on the assumption that in the ordinary dwelling some of the rooms would be below 110 square feet in area, and that consequently the permitted number ascertained solely from the number of rooms without regard to their area would normally be in excess of the exact permitted number. The allowance for this factor in the table given is about one fifth. The system may be clearer if the actual table is inserted. No. of inhabited rooms. Permitted Number. |
b3599fb1-6bbe-4aff-8ee0-46e99bec5f0e | Actual Reduced 1 2 1½ 2 3 2½ 3 5 4 4 7½ 6 5 10 8 6 12 9½ The figures in columns 2 and 3 refer to units—a person over ten years of age being counted as one unit, a child between one and ten years as a half-unit, and a baby under twelve months not counted at all. Thus in a two-roomed tenement the accommodation was reduced from 3 units to 2½. If a two-roomed tenement was occupied by a husband, wife and two children, it was returned as potentially overcrowded, and the tenement was transferred to table B and subsequently measured. For the preliminary survey, six enumerators and a clerk were engaged. The Council had previously engaged a sanitary inspector 29 (Mr. Newport) to carry out certain arrears of work and house-tohouse inspection. Mr. Newport directly supervised under Mr. |
0c2c6de8-ff31-49dc-81b3-b8ff602fb5cd | Kinch, the Chief Sanitary Inspector, the enumerators. Mr. Newport obtained a permanent post elsewhere before the measurements of form B were concluded, and Mr. Paterson was engaged as temporary inspector and took over the direct supervision. It will be appreciated that considerable office accommodation was necessary for the enumerators and for the filing of nearly 17,000 forms A. Fortunately this was secured in St. Mary's School, Oldhams Terrace. The Council had sold the site for the erection of Labour Exchange offices, but the premises were not required for that purpose until the early part of 1936, and the school premises were utilised for office accommodation. As a result of consultations with representatives of local authorities, the Minister of Health considered that one enumerator could reasonably ,be expected to visit and complete the forms for 300 houses per week. |
3823aa65-79cf-4905-b3bf-c36a2e7b31f0 | Our enumerators completed over 400 each week ; they commenced duties on 25th November, 1935, and the survey was completed by 4th January, 1936. It was stated on a preceding page that the overcrowding provisions apply only to working-class dwellings, that is, according to the definition in'Section 12," any premises used as a separate dwelling by members of the working classes or a type suitable for such use." Local authorities accordingly had to decide in the light of this definition which houses in their area should be inspected. Some authorities adopted the course of including every house in their area. Many chose a rateable value criterion, excluding all houses with a rateable value of £26, £20 or some other figure which they regarded as appropriate to their area. Other had no definite criterion, but excluded particular areas occupied by persons not of the working classes. We adopted the latter method, basing our action upon the knowledge and experience of the Sanitary Inspectors and the Health Visitors. |
a9a5729f-50f9-4796-8510-54a0f276b4cb | The whole of the south-west ward was included. In the other wards the following areas were excluded :— North East Bowes Road. Friars Place Lane Perryn Road. Churchfield Road Friary Road. St. Dunstans East (except Nos. Friars Way. Avenue. 1-11 odd) Gibbon Road. St. Dunstans Foster Road. Glendun Road. Gardens. Friars Gardens. Old Oak Road. Shaa Road. Vyner Road. 30 North West. Birch Grove. Layer Gardens. Queens Drive. Buxton Gardens. Lexden Road. Rosemont Road. Chatsworth Lynton Road. Tudor Gardens. Gardens. Mayfield Road. Twyford Avenue. Creffield Road. Monks Drive. Twyford Crescent. Creswick Road. Pierrepoint Road. |
56c6cef3-0572-48c6-9fac-d650a178bee9 | Uxbridge Road. Hale Gardens. Princes Gardens. West Lodge Hart Grove. Avenue. South East. Armstrong Road. Newton Grove. St. Albans Ave. Bedford Road. Queen Anne's (part). Blenheim Road. Gardens. The Avenue (part) Esmond Road. Queen Anne's Grv. South Parade. Marlborough Ramillies Road. The Orchard. Crescent. Rusthall Avenue Vanburgh Road. (part). Woodstock Road. In this list of houses which were excluded there were 2,311 houses. Altogether approximately 12,000 houses were inspected, containing 16,943 tenements, with the following results:— Size of Letting. Number. Overcrowded. Possibly. Definitely. |
1d5d8663-6d0f-4cb2-85a0-ef5608d8afcc | 1 room 422 86 17 2 rooms 1,354 327 114 3 ” 5,385 709 151 4 „ 3,242 162 29 5 „ 3,465 57 5 6 „ 2,112 9 - 7 „ 633 1 - 8 „ 176 1 - 9 „ 92 - - 10 „ 41 - - 11” 17 - - 12 „ 3 - - 13 „ — - - 14 „ 1 — — 16,943 1,352 316 31 There were found at the preliminary survey, 316 lettings definitely overcrowded and 1,352 lettings possibly overcrowded. |
81eb38bd-78fe-490b-b266-cf7fb0de5f0f | The preliminary survey naturally disclosed more cases of possible overcrowding in which measurement was necessary' than of definite overcrowding, owing to the fact that the criterion suggested for selecting these possible cases was wide enough to ensure that no case of actual overcrowding could be missed At the Public Health Committee on 7th January, 1936, it was reported that Survey " A " having been completed, it was necessary to proceed with the measurement of the 316 houses definitely overcrowded and the 1,352 houses in which overcrowding possibly existed, and it was resolved to appoint two men at the same salary that was paid to the enumerators, viz.:—£3 5s. Od. per week each, and also two junior assistants at a salary of 18/- per week each. The Survey " B " was completed before the end of April. |
624db204-f7c9-42c0-8afa-c725c4f08aaa | In the Report of the Ministry of Health on the survey, examples of the cost in a few districts are given, but unless the details of these costs are given, it is difficult to compare. For instance, how much has been included for supervision, rent and other overhead charges. The sums paid here were:— £ s. d. Enumerators 224 6 0 Clerical Assistance 42 18 9 Printing and Stationery 46 9 3 £313 14 0 The cost would work out at less than £20 per 1,000 houses inspected. In the figures published by the Ministry of Health, the cost varied from £16 to £60 per 1,000 houses inspected. |
1552f1d4-5e56-4a4e-be04-ad6333e5f4d9 | When Survey " B " was made, it was found that 60 of the 316 definitely overcrowded lettings had become uncrowded, owing to a reduction in the number of occupants which had in the meantime occurred, or to removals, and that of the 1,352 possibly overcrowded, 174 were definitely overcrowded on the basis of table 2. 32 The percentage of working-class dwellings overcrowded was 2.5 compared with 2.2 in the whole of Middlesex. The lowest percentages of overcrowding in Middlesex were in Ruislip-Nortlnvood with 0.4 and 0.6 in Southgate, and the highest were Hendon and Willesden with 4.1. As stated on previous pages, the numbers and percenta;.;irefer solely to working-class accommodation, and include only tlu-~*' dwellings. |
0411dac7-3698-43f8-9a16-7d4f4f6c7510 | The number and percentage in Hendon, with a popts lation of 134,160 refer only to 13,921 dwellings, whilst in Willestk'u with a population of 188,440 they refer to 44,762 dwellings. H«' the figures are probably a correct index of overcrowding in workir class dwellings. In the districts adjacent to Acton the figures were as follow -' Number Overcrowded Percentage Hammersmith 1,718 4.9 Brentford & Chiswick 305 2.9 Ealing _ _ 314 2.1 Willesden 1,845 4.1 The final result was as follows:— Size of Letting. Number of lettings. Overcrowded. |
336d45cf-7a08-4284-b6eb-8ec5912c4ed7 | 1 room 422 39 2 rooms 1,354 132 3 „ 5,385 186 4 „ 3,242 60 5 „ 3,465 11 6 „ 2,112 2 7 ,, 633 — 8 „ 176 _ 9 „ 92 _ 10„ 41 — 11„ 17 _ 12 „ 3 _ 13 „ — _ 14 „ 1 - 16,943 430 33 The 430 overcrowded lettings were occupied by 2,036 persons over ten years of age and 583 children between the ages of one and ten years. Table"C"gives in a summary form the result of the survey, and is a wealth of information about the housing accommodation in the Borough. It shows the number of families of any given size, and the number of such families occupying dwellings of any capacity. |
2a380954-c8b5-411a-8fc7-b1b89f97d44b | The entries below and to the left of the stepped diagonal show the numbers and distribution of the overcrowded families, whilst those above and to the right of that diagonal relate to the uncrowded families. The entries on the stepped diagonal itself show the families whose accommodation is exactly the minimum permitted by the overcrowding standard. The further from the diagonal an entry appears, the greater is the departure from the standard, so that the worst cases of overcrowding can be picked out at once. From Table " C " it will be seen that there were 315 families housed at the minimum standard ; of these 51 lived in one-roomed dwellings, 134 in two-roomed dwellings, 129 in three rooms and 1 in four rooms. Of the 39 one-roomed dwellings overcrowded, 25 were overcrowded by half a unit, 10 by 1 unit, 1 by 1½ units, 2 by 2 units, and 1 by 2½ units. |
3764ed7b-e94c-4d40-b928-4f48297b0545 | In 14 out of the 39 the overcrowding was due to the size of the rooms ; in 2 instances the room was between 50 and 70 square feet in area, and therefore could accommodate only half a unit, but in both instances it was occupied by an adult. In 12 instances the room was between 90 and 110 square feet in area, but the lettings were each occupied by two adults. The highest number of persons in a one—roomed letting was 5-3 persons over ten and 2 under ten ; the room was overcrowded by 2 units. The greatest overcrowding in a one-roomed dwelling was 3 persons over ten and 1 under in a room between 70 and 90 square feet in area ; this room was overcrowded by 2½ units. |
7ce7c5b9-ebec-427b-ab5a-502c0a639da0 | Eleven of the two-roomed lettings were overcrowded solely on account of the size of the rooms, that is, the lettings were occupied by 3 or less units, but one or other of the rooms had a floor area of less than 110 square feet. 52 of the two-roomed lettings were overcrowded by only half a unit. 4 of the two-roomed lettings were overorowded to the extent of 3 units, and two to the extent of 4 units, Altogether 170 of the lettings were overcrowded by half a unit each. 34 Average Units of Accommodation per Family of given Size. Size offamily, (equivalent number of persons). Average number of units of accommodation (permitted number) occupied by families of the size in column 1. All families Overcrowded families. 1. 2. 3. 1 3.48 0.50 1½ 8.96 — 2 5.18 1. |
eb7c8b38-9985-4994-a7eb-0028299183d6 | 50 2½ 5.20 1.90 3 6.32 2.11 3½ 6.28 2.90 4 7.53 3.00 4½ 7.51 3.30 5 7.91 4.12 5½ 7.77 4.59 6 8.53 4.66 6½ 8.70 4.97 7 8.85 5.31 7½ 8.71 5.86 8 9.61 6.23 8½ 8.53 6.41 9 10.51 7.37 9½ 10.50 7.33 10 11.00 8.25 10½ 9.00 6.00 11 10.33 9.00 11½ — — 12 9.00 9. |
a6f418ff-ba19-4387-95d4-226b1ecee507 | 00 12½ — — 13 — — 13½ 14.50 — The above table gives the average number of units of accommodation occupied by the various sizes of families ; a family would be just not overcrowded if the number of units in the size of the fa on ily were the same as the number of units of accommodation, and consequently the excess of the numbers in column 2 over those in column 1 indicates the extent to which the average family enjoys accommodation in excess of that required by the overcrowding standard. 35 Similarly, the excess of the numbers in column 1 over those in column 3 indicates the extent to which the accommodation occupied by the average overcrowded family falls short of that required by tie standard. The general picture given by this table is that the average working-class family is housed well above the statutory minimum standard, especially the family of average size. As the family gets larger, the less is the relative margin of accommodation above the standard. |
665e4d1a-c529-4756-a610-12f03272ea92 | In the case of the large family of eight units or more, there is very little margin, and these are the families for which the Council has not made much provision. When we come to consider the overcrowding figures of families in the council houses it will be shown that all the houses which contain more than eight units are overcrowded. Compared with the rest of the country, in Acton the accommodation for families under four units is less (with the exception of ihe 1½ unit family), and for families of over 4 units the accommodation here is higher in every instance. The following two tables classify families according to the proportion which the ccommodation they actually have bears to the minimum accommodation according to the overcrowding standand Thus families with accommodation just equal to the minimum permissible by the standard, that is, families just not overcrowded, are entered as having 100 per cent of the minimum accommodation ; families with less than 100 per cent, accommodation are overcrowded, and the degree of overcrowding is greater the smaller the percentage. |
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