COLOSSAL TASK

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 520, 2 May 1933, Page 2

COLOSSAL TASK

governing london CITY POSSiESSES WORLD'S MOST COMPLEX SYSTEM. LITTLE KNOWN FACTS. There is probably no more complex system of local government in th'e world than that which deals with the munieipai affairs of London's teeming millions. Nor is there any, it is safe to *say, which works. so smoothly and unobstrusively, writes L. Hill, general secretary of th'e National Association of Local Government Officers, in the Daily Tielegraph, London. The general principle upon which the civic administration of the metroP'alis is based as that for all serviees which can best be administered for the whole of London there is a central authority, and that for those that can more appropriately be administered in local areas there are a number of autonomous local authorities. A Vast Budget. Th'e London County Council, the biggest of all the metropolitan authorities, has no counterpart in England, or indeed, anywhere else. It governs an area of about 117 square miles, with a population of 4,500,000 and a rateable value of nearly £600,000,000. Its budget amounts toi £40,000,000 a year, involving figUres in exeess of the budgets of many' European States. Yet, such is the efficiency of the administration and the care jexerciised in expenditure that every penny of that gigantic budget is votedf by the council. Since the council was first established — it came as a result of the Local Government Act of 1888 — its expenditure has increased over twenty-fold, due mainly to the vast addition to the duties it has been called upon to perform. Only .about half of the councdl's expenditure falls upon the rates. The London County Council is one of the world's greatest home providers. Some 60,000 houses and flats have be,en erected, and the actual population of the eouncil's dwellings is about 260, 00Q, or approximately the total population of Nottingbam. For its various serviees the L.C.C. requires a staff of about 85,000, scattered over seventy-six hospitals, fifteen mental hospitals,. over 1400 schools, about fifty institutions, apart from its central and local offices. Maze of Streets. Within the eouncil's administrative area there are 2500 miles of streets, and 160 miles of tramways which carry every year over 700,000,000 passengers. In this same .area are 400 miles of main and 2500 miles of local sewers. It is estimated that the discharge from these sewers would form a stream 20 feet wide, 5 feet deep, flowing at the rate of three miles an hour, day in and day out. There is, perhaps, no more important featur.e of the London County Council's work than that which eoncerns those varied measures of communal hygiene which make for a healthy environment. Such have been the achievements dn this sphere of administration during recent years that London is now one of the healthiest capital cities in the world. The death-rate of children under one year is lower in London than in the country. The work of the council's health department begins before birth, with the provision of ante-natal care, and continues throughout life. The institution serviees have been built up into the most extensive munieipai hospital organisation in the world. Altogether about 42,000 beds are under the control of the Public Health Department, and the number of patients admitted .each year approaches 200,000. Pockets Safeguarded. Apart from that, there are about 20,000 in the mental hospitals, while other institutions provide accommodation for more than 20,000 persons. The total staff of the hospital and ambulance serviees is nearly 19,000. Nearly 900,000 pupils and students of all ages attend institutions maintained or aided by the L.C.C. In the elementary schools alone there are 576,000 children. Teachers and instructors number 30,000. The pockets of millions of London's shoppers are safeguarded by the vigilance of the Public Control Department. Inspectors are continually making surprise visits to- shops and stalls to examine weighng machines and to test packages of food. About 110,000 visits are made each year. 'One and ia half million applicances are examined, and over 300,000 articles of food are tested. The council, maintains 137 open spaces of about 6000 acres, providing faeilities for various outdoor games. With a uniformed staff of 200 men; sixty-four stations, and over 200 motor fire appliances, the London Fire Brigade is the largest in the country. The council sees to the safety of the public at over 750 theatres and other places of entertainment. It registers or license^ about 9500 places where iexplosives; petroleum, etc., are kept, 1100 einployment agencies, and about 1500 massage or similar establi&hments. It enforces the observance of the Shops Act in about 90,000 shops, and tests the meters for gas and electricity. These do not by any means exhaust the public serviees which have' their foeal point at County Hall. A vast organisation is maintained, for instance, by the Public Assistance branches of the administration. Every street and every house is included in the district of a relieving officer. Here, iii brief, is a great machine .which touches the life of the community intimately at many points. In his business, his pleasure, and in many other ways, John Citizen is protected by the London County Council's widespread serviCes. Of ihe details of that work he knows little, and it is, perhaps, th'e greatest tribute to .the efficiency and smoothness with which this vast machine operates that its exi-stenee is almost taken for granted.