LONDON COUNCIL

Waikato Independent, Volume XLIV, Issue 6102, 15 September 1947, Page 3

LONDON COUNCIL

WORK OF COUNTY ORGANISATION ADDRESS BY LADY NATHAN In a broadcast address last week, Lady Nathan, chairman of the London County Council, described the work of the council and conveyed greetings from the people of London to the people of New Zealand. Lady Nathan said:— I am spending a fortnight in New Zealand, and I only wish I had longer to spend in this lovely country. One thing I have already learnt, and that, is the great interest that everyone takes in British affairs and, as you

have been told that I am the chairman of the London County Council for the current year, I think it may interest you to hear something about the constitution of the Council and the work it does.

The authority of the council extends over an area of one hundred and seventen square miles, including a population of nearly four million. There are 144 members, of which. 124 are directly elected by the people and 20 are aldermen. Thirty-one of the members are women, and they take their full share of responsibility which fall to members. There are some 12 committees of the council, and four of the' chairmen of those are women. So it will be clear that

they are pulling their weight, and I can assure you that they are treated in every way as the men are: neither more harshly nor more leniently and, be it praise or blame that is coming to them, they get their full measure of either. And that, I feel sure, is what they would wjsh. The life of a member of the council is a very busy one, and involves great responsibilities, and membership is, by the way, entirely voluntary and without payment.

The functions of the council are so many and so varied that it would be true to' say that it really touches the lives of the ordinary people at. almost every point. We are responsible for education, house and town planning, street improvements and bridges, main drainage, the relief of the needy and the care of old people, the care of the blind, parks and open spaces, and hospitals, though these may be shortly handed over to the State under the new National Health Service Act. It will be seen from this brief list what a vast responsibility falls upon the London County Council, and it is impossible in the course of a short talk to speak about all these matters so I will refer to a few of them.

The problem of shortage of housing seems to be a yrorld-wide one, and I know that you here are suffering from it, too. Before the war there was a pretty acute housing shortage in London, and the council has carried out extensive housing, slum clearance and re-housing operations, particularly during the last twenty years, and is now one of the biggest municipal landlords in the world—owning nearly one hundred thousand dwellings with a population of some half million tenants. These, dwellings are of different types and sizes and about half are cottages, most of which have been built outside the county owing to the lack of space within it, and the rest are blocks of flats. This work was going on rapidly when the war came, but since then the acuteness of the problem has been greatly intensified; not only because all work Stopped during the war, involving increasing arrears with no houses to meet the natural increase in the population, but also because of the destruction and damage to so many houses, as a result of the bombing.

To meet the great hardship which has fallen on so many people as a result of their houses being destroyed or damaged, we have had to take many different steps. All those houses which could be repaired have been dealt with as quickly as possible, and in addition, we have provided over 5.000 “prefabs,” as we call them. These are bungalows, some of which have been placed on the bombed sites. They contain many labour-saving devices, and a number of people have told me they are very well satisfied with these temporary houses. Work is also proceeding as rapidly as possible on the erection of permanent houses and flats, but shortages . of labour and material hold us back. Many young couples are still living

with their parents in over-crowded conditions, a state of affairs which is a severe strain on good relations between parents and their married children. I can only tell you that every possible vigour and determination are being devoted to this work which means so much to the people of. London. In regard to education, a subject in which I am particularly interested, having served for many years as a member of that committee, and last year as vice.-chairman. The schools, too, have suffered greatly during the war, and many have been totally destroyed; and in view of the fact that school leaving age has recently been raised to 15, the pressure of accommodation is very acute. We pupils, and in our service nearly have in our schools some 360,000 13,000 teachers. In spite of all the difficulties and frustrations resulting from the war, great changes and a great expansion in the Education Service are being developed following the Education Act of 1944, the aim of which, put shortly, is to provide every child with the education best suited to its age, ability and aptitude, regardless of its parents’ means. We have abolished the competitive scholarship examination which used to be beiu at the age of 11, as a result of which many children were excluded from a secondary education because their parents could not afford to pay for it. We. are now in process of developing our plans so that a good free secondary education may be available to all our children, and so that the educational ladder, which leads to the university, may be broadened to include all those young people whose ability makes them suit-

able for a university education ; I wish I had time to tell you more about our schools; the special schools for handicapped children, some of them residential; technical schools for those with aptitude in those directions; nursery schools, evening institutes for young people who have left school, and which provide a vast variety of instruction, including vocational classes for those who-wish to study subjects connected with their careers, classes in cultural subjects such as language, drama, music, art, and many hobby passes such as carpentry, photography, wireless, horticulture, dancing. There is room f®r all the talents and for all tastes, and attendance is, of course, entirely voluntary. The popularity of the classes is shown by the fact that 110,000 pupils attended them during the last year.

There is one piece of work which the council has recently developed, which I should like to refer to. For many years school dinners have been provided for necessitous children, or for children whose mothers were out at work and unable to provide dinner at home for them, ’this service has now been greatly expanded until today 50% of the children in our schools are being provided with a good, hot, two-course meal, the charge being 5d per child, with a slight reduction where there is more than one member of one family attending the dinners. For instance, three children in one family pay Is. This service is a great boon both to children and mothers under present circumstances because no coupons are required, and in these difficult days mothers are glad for their children to stay at school and have a good meal, and to know that the. rations are still left

at home for the week-end. The Government and the council are particu-

larly anxious to ensure that growing children have slightly more than their share of the meagre amount of food that is available, as they really need it, and many of them are showing a considerable improvement as a result

of these meals. \ You will have realised that the London County Council, one of the greatest of local authorities, has at all times a great service to render to the people of London, but following the upheaval and devastation of war, its problems are multiplied a hundredfold, and members of the council, together with the officers who advise them, must devote a great deal of time and thought to the heavy responsibilities which fall upon them. Before I left London, the council authorised me to convey the greetings of the people of London to the countries I was visiting; and now. that I have arrived in New Zealand, it is with the greatest pleasure that, as chairman of the London County Council, I send to the people of New Zealand the cordial greetings of the people of London. ,