Legislation

Question 0

Features of early Sanitary Legislation

Answer 0

Liverpool sanitary act (-appoint medical officer and town council given powers)
Nuisance removal act (unwholesome houses)
Baths and wash houses act
Town improvements clauses act in 1847 -lay water supplies and control nuisances

Question 1

Effectiveness of legislation depended on what factors?

Answer 1

The acceptance of general public
Lack of legal loopholes
Existence of infrastructure to implement legislation
Existence of personnel to implement legislation

Question 2

The 1848 public health act?

Answer 2

General board of health set up
Local authorities to set up local boards
Local boards to manage sewers etc
Finance projects

Question 3

1848 public health act was permissive so what was its strengths?

Answer 3

Little opposition
Only applied where conditions very poor so desperate for remedy
Piecemeal implementation meant those who were suspicious could see for themselves how act worked

Question 4

Public health act 1848 was permissive what was weaknesses?

Answer 4

Didn’t apply to London nor Scotland
Before local authority could adopt act at least 10% of those rates for poor relief had to petition to have applied
Act had to apply here death rate more that 23 per 1000
Medical officer didn’t become obligatory till 1875

Question 5

What was strengths of the 1948 public health act?

Answer 5

Beginning of 1850 , 182 towns had asked for new public health regulations

Question 6

Weaknesses of public health act 1848?

Answer 6

Only 400,000 of 2.5 million people living under some sort of public health board

Question 7

The 1958 local government act and 1958 public health act?

Answer 7

General board of health abolished
Powers given to new local government act office
Medical department of privy
council set up

Question 8

Why was two links acts of parliament needed so soon after 1848 public health act?

Answer 8

Gradual acceptance of local authorities so need for more powerful local public health bodies. Hostility towards board of health - Chadwick. Splitting powers between local gov act office, privy council medical department was a solution

Question 9

The 1866 sanitary act

Answer 9

John Simon behind this. He had been lindens first medical officer and in 1958 a medical officer of the privy council.

Question 10

What did Simon work on in the 1866 sanitary act?

Answer 10

He worked within the permissive framework seeking to persuade local authorities to accept public health systems, he archived more that Chadwick

Question 11

In 1866 sanitary act what did John Simon become convinced?

Answer 11

The government had to persuade to embrace compulsion

Question 12

What did the 1866 sanitary act do?

Answer 12

Sanitary powers granted to individual local boards of health under 1848 act made available to all local boards
Local authorities responsible to remove ‘nuisances’
Definition of nuisances extended to domestic properties and included overcrowding
Powers to remove or improve slim dwellings

Question 13

Why was the sanitary act 1866 significant?

Answer 13

Compulsion

Question 14

What were the pressures for further change?

Answer 14

1867- reform act gave vote to working men in town therefore politicians had to pay more attention to problems
Louis pastur germ theory proved
1872 public health act compulsory to appoint medical officer

Question 15

The 1875 public health act?

Answer 15

Every part of country had to have public health authority
Medical officer and one sanitary inspector
Local authorities wide powers to lay sewers and drains etc

Question 16

Why was there opposition to public health provision in 1950’s and 1960’s???

Answer 16

Improvement schemes cost money
Government encroaching on individual liabilities eg remove dung heaps from properties
Vested interest - unlikely to vote for measures that would reduce company efforts
Chadwick himself angered many