Public Health Act 1936

Filthy or verminous premises or articles, and verminous persons.

83 Cleansing of filthy or verminous premises.

(1) Where it appears to a local authority upon a certificate of the medical officer of health or the sanitary inspector that any premises used for human habitation—

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

(b) are verminous,

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

(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 five pounds and to a further fine not exceeding forty shillings for each day on which the offence continues after conviction therefor:

Provided that in any proceedings under this subsection it shall be open to the defendant to question the reasonableness of the authority's requirements or of their decision to address their notice to him and not to the occupier or, as the case may be, the owner of the premises.

(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.

84 Cleansing or destruction of filthy or verminous articles.

Where it appears to a local authority upon a certificate of the medical officer of health or the sanitary inspector 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 their medical officer of health or, in the case of a local authority, from their sanitary inspector, 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 medical officer of health.

(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.