(b) the number of storeys in a tenement containing houses, and the arrangement of such tenements in blocks or otherwise; (e) the subdivision of houses; (d) the number of adult persons and children who may occupy a house, such number to be prescribed in accordance with a cubic space standard. (e) the provision of a separate water-closet, bath, scullery, larder, adequate press accommodation and accommodation for the storage of coal for each house, and facilities for washing and drying clothes; (f) the provision of open spaces about houses. (2) Bye-laws relating to paragraphs (a), (b), and (f) shall apply to new houses only; bye-laws relating to paragraphs (c) and (d) shall apply to new houses and also to existing houses; bye-laws relating to paragraph (e) shall apply to new houses, and also, so far as reasonably practicable, to existing houses. (3) The provisions of ss. 183 to 187 of the Public Health. (Scotland) Act, 1897 (which relate to bye-laws made under that Act) shall apply to bye-laws made under this section. (4) In this section the expression "existing house" means a house erected or in the course of erection at the time when such bye-laws come into force, or a house the plans for the erection of which have been approved at that time. [1919, s. 42.] In this and the following sections effect is given to a large number of the recommendations of the Royal Commission whose members were unanimous in deploring the inadequacy of the statutory powers in regard to housing possessed by local authorities in 1917, with special reference to the position of county local authorities. For a valuable detailed account of the statutory powers enjoyed by local authorities under the Public Health and Burgh Police Acts in 1917, see the Majority Report of the Royal Commission on Housing, paragraphs 87-112 (Cd. 8731), chap. v., and Whyte's Digest of the Report-Appendix I. The present section is confined to burghs only, county areas being dealt with in s. 75. Many of the objects aimed at in 1 (a) to (f) could doubtless be secured under the existting powers of Town Councils, or, indirectly, by the pressure exerted to the Dean of Guild Court. Now, however, a duty is imposed upon every Town Council to deal specifically by bye-law with each of the cases indicated. 1 (a) Bye-laws on this subject should generally be unnecessary if the Town Planning Acts are put into operation 1 (6) Compare Burgh Police Act, 1892, s. 171, as to 1 (c) See on this point Cammell Laird & Co. v. Brownridge, L.T. 24th May, 1919, p. 66; and see 1919, s. 26 (Housing Code, s. 118). 1 (d) Compare provisions as to "overcrowding" in the Public Health Act, 1897, ss. 16 (7) and 84; and the adoptive provisions of the Burgh Police Act, 1903, ss. 67-8, as to "ticketed houses." 1 (e) Town Councils already possess certain powers of compelling the provision of sanitary conveniences; but neither burgh nor county local authorities, apart from this section, could effectively compel the provision of "press accommodation" and the other domestic conveniences enumerated in this sub-section. 66 1 (f) See Repton School v. Repton Rural District Council, 1918, 2 K.B. 133, and the General Turnpike Act [1 & 2 Will. iv. c. 43], s. 91, which provides that no house can be erected within 25 feet of the centre of a turnpike road, and which is re-enacted in the Roads and Bridges Act, 1878, s. 123. As to free space at the rear of houses in burghs, see Burgh Police Act, 1892, s. 170, and the adoptive provisions in the Burgh Police Act, 1903, ss. 63 and 69-74. (3) Public Health Act, 1897, s. 183, relates to authentication of bye-laws; s. 184, to penalties for breach of bye-laws; s. 185, to confirmation of bye-laws by the Board; s. 186, to printing and circulation of bye-laws; and s. 187, to proof of bye-laws in legal proceedings. In making bye-laws under this and the following sections, care must be taken to ensure that these bye-laws are intra vires, reasonable, equitable in their operation, and not repugnant to the general law, and reference is made to the Interpretation Act, 1889, ss. 31 and 32 (3), as to the interpretation of bye-laws and statutes authorising the making of bye-laws. No provision is made as to what is to happen in the event of a Town Council neglecting their duty under this section. The many forms of indirect pressure which the Board can exercise would probably meet the case. S. 146 of the Public Health Act. 1897, would not apply, as the "duty" is not "imposed" on the local authority by the Public Health Act. Additional Bye-laws for Houses in Counties. 75. (1) It shall be the duty of the local authority of every 1919, s. 43. district, other than a burgh, to make for the whole or any part of their district bye-laws under s. 181 of the Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1897, and, when the local authority is a district committee, it shall not be necessary for them to obtain the approval of the County Council thereto. (2) In addition to the matters in respect to which bye-laws may be made under that section, bye-laws may be made thereunder for houses or buildings intended for human habitation, or houses the mode of occupancy whereof is altered in such a manner as to increase the number of separate houses, in respect to the following matters: (a) the approval of plans by the local authority before (b) the inspection and certification before occupation; (e) the number of storeys in a tenement containing houses or otherwise; (f) the provision of open spaces about houses; (g) the provision of suitable access; (h) the lighting, ventilation, and cubic space of rooms; (2) the structure of floors; (j) the provision of a bath and of a scullery, larder, coal- (k) Protection against risk of fire and the provision of [1919, s. 43.] See further 1919, s. 41 (Housing Code, s. 80). In this section similar provision is made for county areas to that made for burghs in s., and reference is made to the notes appended to that section. The present section had, of course, to be wider in its ambit than the last, because provision had to be made for several cases with which, prior to 1919, burgh authorities could deal, while county authorities had no corresponding powers, e.g., 2 (a), (b), (g), (h), (i), and (k). (1) S. 181 of the Public Health Act, 1897, empowers, but does not require, the local authority of any district other than a burgh, with the approval of the County Council, to make bye-laws for the whole or any part of their district for regulating" (1) the building or rebuilding of houses or buildings; (2) the use for human habitation of any building not previously so used; or (3) any alteration in 66 "the mode of occupancy of any existing house in such a manner as will increase the number of separate houses, "in respect to the following matters :- "(a) The drainage of the subsoil of sites for and the prevention of dampness in houses intended for "human habitation. 66 (b) The structure of walls, foundations, roofs, and chimneys of new buildings in so far as likely to affect 66 human health. "(c) The ventilation of houses and buildings intended for "human habitation. (d) The sufficiency of the space about buildings "to secure a free circulation of air. "() The construction and arrangement of the drainage "of houses and buildings, and of soil pipes and "waste pipes, and the construction and position of "water-closets, earth closets, privies, ashpits, cess pools, dungsteads, slop sinks, and rain-water pipes "and rhones. (f) The production of suitable building plans in respect "of the matters in this section mentioned, and their "inspection. (9) The intimation previous to the commencement by "the owner or person laying out the work to the "local authority of the date of the commencement, "and for the due inspection in respect of the matters "in this section mentioned of houses or buildings in process of erection or alteration, and the examina"tion of the drains thereof, and for the pulling down, alteration, or amendment of any work which has "been carried out in contravention of the bye-laws." The above section must be interpreted in terms of the definition section of the Public Health Act, 1897, s. 3, by which certain of the expressions are given meanings different from those assigned by the Housing Acts. See also ss. 183 to 187 for further provisions as to bye-laws under the Public Health Act. The making of bye-laws under s. 181 has hitherto been optional, and, in 1917, only 48 out of 107 county authorities had exercised their powers under this section. The making of bye-laws is now compulsory, and, in the case of a District Committee, the consent of the County Council is no longer required. As to default or neglect of duty on the part of the local authority, see note to preceding section (s. 74). (2) The phraseology of this sub-section leaves room for doubt as to whether (a) the local authority are under a duty to make bye-laws in respect of the matters enumerated in sub-section (2) in addition to those enumerated in s. 181, or whether (b) it is optional for them to make bye-laws under this sub-section, though compulsory with reference to the matters dealt with in s. 181. Having regard to the general trend of the group of sections of which this is one, it is thought that the local authority are not under a duty to make bye-laws in respect of the matters enumerated in this sub- 2 (a) and (b) Except in so far as these matters may have 2 (c) See notes to preceding section, sub-section 1 (f), as to provisions of the Turnpike Act. 2 (d), (e), and ( See notes to preceding section, subsections (a), (b), and (f). 2 (g), (h), (i), and (j) Hitherto county authorities could only deal with these matters within the limits imposed by s. 181 of the Public Health Act, or, indirectly, by applying the nuisance provisions of the Public Health Act, ss. 16, et seq. See further as to control of occupancy, 1919, s. 44 (2) (a) (Housing Code, s. 77). (k) In burghs this matter can be dealt with by bye-law under the Burgh Police Act, 1903, s. 93 (8). 1909, s. 43. Back-to-back Houses. 76. Notwithstanding anything in any local Act or bye-law in force in any burgh or district, it shall not be lawful to erect any back-to-back houses intended to be used as dwellings for the working classes, and any such house commenced to be erected after 3rd December, 1909, shall be deemed to be unfit. for human habitation for the purposes of the provisions of the Housing Code. Provided that nothing in this section (a) shall prevent the erection or use of a house containing several tenements in which the tenements are placed back to back, if the medical officer of health for the district certifies that the several tenements are so constructed and arranged as to secure effective ventilation of all habitable rooms in every tenement; or (b) shall apply to houses abutting on any streets the plans whereof have been approved by the local authority before the first day of May nineteen hundred and nine, in any burgh or district in which, at 3rd December, 1909, any local Act or bye-laws are in force permitting the erection of back-to-back houses. [1909, s. 43.] Back-to-back houses.-I.e., dwellings with no through ventilation from front to back, the rear wall of the one house forming the rear wall of another fronting a parallel street. |