SANITARY ACT, 1870. Short title. All hospitals in metro polis held 33 & 34 VICT. CAP. 53. An Act to amend certain Provisions in the Sanitary and Sewage [9th August, 1870.] "WHEREAS it is expedient further to amend the Sanitary Act, 1866, I. This Act may be cited for all purposes as "The Sanitary Act, 1870." II. For the purposes of the twenty-sixth section of the Sanitary Act, 1866 (a), every hospital or place for the reception of the sick situate to be within within the limits of the metropolis, as defined by the Metropolis Managedistrict of ment Act, 1855 (b), shall be deemed to be within the district of every one every nuisance autho- of the nuisance authorities in the metropolis. rity for pur poses of sect. 26 of the Sanitary Act, 1866. How notices III. Any notice which by virtue of such provisions of the Act of the fifty-eighth year of the reign of King George the Third, chapter sixtynine, or any of the Acts amending the same or incorporated therewith, shall be as are incorporated by the fifth section of the Sanitary Act, 1866 (a), is given in special required to be signed by the rector, vicar, or curate, or by a churchdrainage warden or overseer of the poor of the parish, shall in the case of any consisting of special drainage district (c) made up of, including part of a parish only, or districts (a) See 29 & 30 Vict. c. 90, ante, in this Appendix. (b) See 18 & 19 Vict. c. 120. (c) See 30 & 31 Vict. c. 113, s. 6, ante, in this Appendix. more than one parish, be signed by the rector, vicar, or curate, or by a part of a parish or churchwarden or overseer of the poor of any parish wholly or partly made up by included in the district, and any notice which by the said Acts or any of more than one parish. them is required to be affixed on or near to the doors of all churches and chapels within the parish, shall be affixed to the doors of any church or chapel in the special drainage district, or if there be no such church or chapel, then on the doors of all churches and chapels in the parish or parishes out of which the district has been constituted. are to be IV. Any order or demand of any of Her Majesty's principal secretaries of How orders state under the Sanitary (d) and Sewage Utilization Acts shall be deemed and demands to have been duly served on the sewer authority of any district for the served or sent in spepurposes of those Acts if served on or sent through the post in a regis- cial drainage tered letter addressed to any person appointed at a meeting of the sewer districts. authority to receive service, of which appointment notice shall be given to such secretary of state, or if no such person shall have been appointed, or no notice of such appointment given to the secretary of state as aforesaid, or if the person so appointed shall refuse, neglect, or be unable to receive such service, then if served on or sent by the post as aforesaid to the rector, curate, or overseer, or the churchwarden or overseer of any parish wholly or partly included in the district : Provided, that nothing in this Act shall be taken to affect the provisions of the fifth section of the Sanitary Loans Act, 1869 (e). (d) See 29 & 30 Vict. c. 99, s. 49, and 31 & 32 Vict. c. 115, s. 4, ante, in this Appendix, and Q. v. Cockerell, L. R. 6 Q. B. 252. (e) See 32 & 33 Vict. c. 100, s. 5, ante, in this Appendix. THE ARTIZANS AND LABOURERS DWELLINGS Short title. Application of Act, and definition of "local authority," "local rate," and 31 & 32 VICT. CAP. 130. An Act to provide better Dwellings for Artizans and Labourers. "WHEREAS it is expedient to make provision for taking down or "improving dwellings occupied by working men and their families which "are unfit for human habitation, and for the building and maintenance "of better dwellings for such persons instead thereof" (a): Be it enacted as follows: I. In citing this Act it shall be sufficient to use the words "The Artizans and Labourers Dwellings Act, 1868." II. This Act shall apply only to the places named in the first column of table (A.) in the first schedule annexed hereto; and "local authority," "local rate," and "clerk of local authority ” shall mean " the bodies of persons," ‚”“rate,” and “officer" in that table in that behalf mentioned; and the said table shall be of the same force as if it were enacted in the (a) See the provisions of the Towns Improvement Act, 10 & 11 Vict. c. 34, s. 75, as to ruinous and dangerous buildings, post. It does not appear that the latter part of this purpose is effected by this Act. It provides for the repair, alteration, improvement, and demolition of dilapidated or unhealthy houses, but does not empower the local authority to enter upon any general system of building dwellings for working men. The 14 & 15 Vict. c. 34, termed "The Labouring Classes Lodging House Act, 1851," contains provisions whereby lodging houses for the labouring classes may be established; and these provisions may be adopted by any local board, who may charge the expenses of carrying the Act into operation upon the district rate. The 29 & 30 Vict. c. 28, enables the local board to obtain advances from the public works loan board to enable them to carry out the necessary works; and this Act has been amended by the 30 & 31 Vict. c. 28. "clerk of local au body of this Act: Provided always, that this Act shall not apply to any city, borough, town, or place that would otherwise be included within thority." the said table, the population whereof does not according to the census for the time being in force amount to the number of ten thousand persons. tion of III. The following words and expressions have in this Act the follow- Interpretaing meanings, unless excluded by the subject or context; (that is to say,) terms: The word "street" includes any court, alley, street, square, or row "Street:" of houses: "owner:" The word "premises" means any dwelling-house or inhabited build- "Premises:" ing, and the site thereof, with the yard, garden, outhouses, and appurtenances belonging thereto or usually enjoyed therewith: The expression "owner," in addition to the definition given by the Lands Clauses Act (b), shall include all lessees or mortgagees of any premises required to be dealt with under this Act, except persons holding or entitled to the rents and profits of such premises for a term of years, of which twenty-one years do not remain unexpired: "Person" shall include a body of persons, corporate or unincorpo- " Person :" rate: "Quarter sessions" shall include general sessions, "Quarter sessions:" "Officer of health" shall mean and include medical officer of health, "Officer of sanitary inspector, or any statutory officer performing the duties health:" which a medical officer or sanitary inspector performs under or by virtue of any Act of Parliament: "Local officer," &c.: In all cases in which the name of a local authority, local court, magistrate, or officer having any local jurisdiction in respect of their or his office is referred to, without mention of the locality to which the jurisdiction extends, such reference is to be understood to indicate the local authority, local court, magistrate, or officer having jurisdiction in that place within which are situate the premises or other subject matter or any part thereof to which such reference applies: "The metropolis" shall not include the city of London or the liberties "The metropolis:" thereof, but shall include all other parishes or places within the jurisdiction of the metropolitan board of works: "Borough " in England shall mean any place for the time being sub- "Borough" (b) See 8 & 9 Vict. c. 18, s. 3, where it is enacted that the word "owner" shall be understood to mean any person or corporation who, under the provisions of that or the special Act, would be enabled to sell and convey lands to the promoters of the undertaking. in England. ject to the Act passed in the session holden in the 5 & 6 Will. 4, e. 76, intituled "An Act to provide for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations in England and Wales: As to appointment of officers of health and payment of salaries. Officer of health to report as to IV. If in any place to which this Act applies therere is no officer of health (a) within the meaning of this Act, the local authority, with the approval of one of Her Majesty's principal secretaries of state, shall forthwith appoint such an officer for such period as shall be necessary, shall assign him his duties, and pay him such salary or emolument out of the local rate as they, with such approval as aforesaid, shall think fit. The local authority, with the like approval, may from time to time remove any officer appointed under this section, and in manner aforesaid appoint another officer in his place. V. If in any place to which this Act applies the officer of health find that any premises (a) therein are in a condition or state dangerous to condition of health so as to be unfit for human habitation, he shall report the same in manner hereinafter provided to the local authority. streets. Officer of health to deliver copies of report to clerk of local authority, who shall refer the same to a survevor, &c. Local autho rity to cause to owner, VI. Every report made under this Act by the officer of health shall be made in writing and delivered to the clerk of the local authority, and the local authority shall refer such report to a surveyor or engineer, who shall thereupon consider the report so furnished to him, and report to the local authority what is the cause of the evil so reported on, and the remedy thereof, and if such evil is occasioned by defects in any premises, whether the same can be remedied by structural alterations and improvements or otherwise, or whether such premises, or any and what part thereof, ought to be demolished. VII. Upon receipt of the report of the surveyor and engineer the local authority shall cause copies of both the reports to be given to the owner, with notice of the time and place appointed by the local authority for the consideration thereof, and such owner shall be at liberty to attend and to state his objections (if any) to such reports, or either of them, including therein any objection that the necessary works ought to be done by or at the expense of some other person or persons, or at the expense of and specifi- the parish or district in which the premises are situate; who may object to the same, and to prepare plan cation of required works. And on such objections the local authority shall make an order in writing, signed by the clerk of such local authority, which shall be subject to appeal in manner hereinafter mentioned; And if such objections are overruled, the local authority, if they deem it necessary, shall cause to be prepared a plan and specification of the (a) See the interpretation clause, s. 3. |