77. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

78 Scavenging of common courts and passages

(1)If any court, yard or passage which is used in common by the occupants of two or more buildings, but is not a highway repairable by the inhabitants at large, is not regularly swept and kept clean and free from rubbish or other accumulation to the satisfaction of the local authority, the authority may cause it to be swept and cleansed.

(2)The local authority may recover any expenses reasonably incurred by them under this section from the occupiers of the buildings which front or abut on the court or yard, or to which the passage affords access, in such proportions as may be determined by the authority, or, in case of dispute, by a court of summary jurisdiction.

79 [Power to require removal of noxious matter by occupier of premises in urban district

(1)If in a borough or [F1district,] or in a rural district or contributory place in which section forty-nine of the M1Public Health Act 1875, was in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, it appears to the [F2proper officer of the authority] that any accumulation of noxious matter ought to be removed, he shall serve notice on the owner thereof, or on the occupier of the premises on which it is found, requiring him to remove it, and, if the notice is not complied with within twenty-four hours after service thereof, the inspector may remove the matter referred to.

(2)A local authority may recover the expenses of any action reasonably taken by their inspector under the preceding sub-section from the owner or occupier in default.]

80 [Power to require periodical removal of manure, &c. from stables, &c. in urban district

(1)In a borough or [F1district,] and in a rural district or contributory place in which section fifty of the M1Public Health Act 1875 was in force immediately before the commencement of this Act, the local authority may by public or other notice require the periodical removal, at such intervals as may be specified in the notice, of manure or refuse from mews, stables or other premises.

(2)If a person on whom a notice has been served under this section fails to comply therewith, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding [F2level 1 on the standard scale].]

81 Byelaws for the prevention of certain nuisances

A local authority may make byelaws for preventing—

(a)the occurrence of nuisances from snow, filth, dust, ashes and rubbish;

(b)the keeping of animals so as to be prejudicial to health.

82 Byelaws as to removal through streets of offensive matter or liquid

(1)A local authority may make byelaws—

(a)prescribing the times for the removal, or carriage through the streets, of any fæcal or offensive or noxious matter or liquid, whether that matter or liquid is in course of removal or carriage from within, or from without, or through, their district;

(b)requiring that the receptacle or vehicle used for the removal or carriage of any such matter or liquid shall be properly constructed and covered so as to prevent the escape of any such matter or liquid;

(c)requiring the cleansing of any place whereon any such matter or liquid has been dropped or split in the course of removal or carriage.

(2)If and so far as a byelaw made under the preceding sub-section is inconsistent with [F1an order under section [F26 of the M1Road Traffic Regulation Act 1967] the order shall prevail].

Filthy or verminous premises or articles, and verminous persons

83 Cleansing of filthy or verminous premises

[F1(1)Where a local authority, upon consideration of a report from any of their officers, or other information in their possession, are satisfied that any premises—

(a)are in such a filthy or unwholesome condition as to be prejudicial to health, or

(b)are verminous,

the local authority shall give notice to the owner or occupier of the premises requiring him to take such steps as may be specified in the notice to remedy the condition of the premises by cleansing and disinfecting them, and the notice may require among other things the removal of wallpaper or other covering of the walls, or, in the case of verminous premises, the taking of such steps as may be necessary for destroying or removing vermin.

(1A)A notice under the foregoing subsection may require—

(a)the interior surface of premises used for human habitation or as shops or offices to be papered, painted or distempered, and

(b)the interior surface of any other premises to be painted, distempered or whitewashed,

and shall allow the person on whom the notice is served, or the local authority acting in his default, to choose, in a case under paragraph (a) of this subsection, between papering, painting and distempering and, in a case under paragraph (b) of this subsection, between painting, distempering and whitewashing.]

(2)If a person on whom a notice under this section is served fails to comply with the requirements thereof, the authority may themselves carry out the requirements and recover from him the expenses reasonably incurred by them in so doing, and, without prejudice to the right of the authority to exercise that power, he shall be liable to a fine not exceeding [F2level 1 on the standard scale] and to a further fine not exceeding [F3£2] for each day on which the offence continues after conviction therefor:

(3)Where a local authority take action under paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of this section, their notice may require that they shall be allowed to employ gas for the purpose of destroying vermin on the premises, but in that case the notice shall be served both on the owner and on the occupier of the premises, and the authority shall bear the cost of their operations and may provide temporary shelter or house accommodation for any person compelled to leave the premises by reason of their operations.

[F4(4) This section shall not apply to any premises forming part of a factory or of a mine or quarry within the meaning of the M1Mines and Quarries Act 1954.]

84 Cleansing or destruction of filthy or verminous articles

Where it appears to a local authority upon a certificate of [F1the proper officer of the authority] that any article in any premises—

(a)is in so filthy a condition as to render its cleansing, purification or destruction necessary in order to prevent injury, or danger of injury, to the health of any person in the premises; or

(b)is verminous, or by reason of its having been used by, or having been in contact with, any verminous person is likely to be verminous,

the local authority shall cause that article to be cleansed, purified, disinfected or destroyed, as the case may require, at their expense and, if necessary for that purpose, to be removed from the premises.

85 Cleansing of verminous persons and their clothing

(1)Upon the application of any person, a county council or a local authority may take such measures as are, in their opinion, necessary to free him and his clothing from vermin.

(2)Where it appears to a county council or a local authority, upon a report from [F1the proper officer of the authority], that any person, or the clothing of any person, is verminous, then, if that person consents to be removed to a cleansing station, they may cause him to be removed to such a station, and, if he does not so consent, they may apply to a court of summary jurisdiction, and the court, if satisfied that it is necessary that he or his clothing should be cleansed, may make an order for his removal to such a station and for his detention therein for such period and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the order.

(3)Where a person has been removed to a cleansing station in pursuance of the last preceding subsection, the county council or local authority shall take such measures as may, in their opinion, be necessary to free him and his clothing from vermin.

(4)The cleansing of females under this section shall be carried out only by a registered medical practitioner, or by a woman duly authorised by the [F1proper officer of the authority].

(5)Any consent required to be given for the purposes of this section may, in the case of a person under the age of sixteen years, be given on his behalf by his parent or guardian.

(6)No charge shall be made in respect of the cleansing of a person or his clothing, or in respect of his removal to, or maintenance in, a cleansing station under this section.

(7)The powers conferred on a county council or local authority by this section shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any power in relation to the cleansing of children which may be exercisable by them as a local education authority.

86 Provision of cleansing stations

A county council or local authority may provide such cleansing stations as may be necessary for the discharge of their functions under any of the three last preceding sections.

Public sanitary conveniences

87 Provision of public conveniences

[F1(1)A county council, . . . F2, a local authority or a parish or community council may, subject to subsection (2) of this section, provide sanitary conveniences in proper and convenient situations.

(2)Any such council or authority shall not provide any such convenience in or under a highway or proposed highway for which they are not the highway authority without the consent of the highway authority.]

(3)[F3Any such council or] authority who provide any public sanitary conveniences, may—

(a)make byelaws as to the conduct of persons using or entering them;

(b)let them for such term, at such rent, and subject to such conditions as they think fit;

(c)charge such fees for the use of any such conveniences, other than urinals, as they think fit.

(4)In this section the expression “sanitary conveniences” includes lavatories.

88. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

89. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F1

General

90 Interpretation of Part II

(1)In this Part of this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, the following expressions have the meanings hereby assigned to them, that is to say—

• “cesspool” includes a settlement tank or other tank for the reception or disposal of foul matter from buildings;

• “closet” includes privy;

• “earthcloset” means a closet having a moveable receptable for the reception of fæcal matter and its deodorisation by the use of earth, ashes or chemicals, or by other methods;

• “joint sewerage board” includes any authority or committee constituted for the purpose of collecting and dealing with the contents of sewers from the districts of two or more local authorities;

• “sanitary conveniences” means closets and urinals;

• . . . F1

• “surface water” includes water from roofs;

• “vermin,” in its application to insects and parasites, includes their eggs, larvæ and pupæ, and the expression “verminous” shall be construed accordingly; and

• “watercloset” means a closet which has a separate fixed receptacle connected to a drainage system and separate provision for flushing from a supply of clean water either by the operation of mechanism or by automatic action.

(2)For the purposes of this Part of this Act [F2except sections 61 to 71 and any other enactment to which section 74(1) of the M1Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 applies], any of the following operations shall be deemed to be the erection of a building, that is to say—

(i)the re-erection of any building or part of a building when an outer wall of that building or, as the case may be, that part of a building has been pulled down, or burnt down, to within ten feet of the surface of the ground adjoining the lowest storey of the building or of that part of the building;

(ii)the re-erection of any frame building or part of a frame building when that building or part of a building has been so far pulled down, or burnt down, as to leave only the framework of the lowest storey of the building or of that part of the building.

(iii)the roofing over of any open space between walls or buildings;

and the word “erect” shall be construed accordingly.

(3). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3

(4)Any reference in this Part of this Act to a drain or to a sewer shall be construed as including a reference to any manholes, ventilating shafts, pumps or other accessories belonging to that drain or sewer, F4. . .

F4(5). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(6). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . F3