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A section within the Clerk's Department became the Public Control Department in 1920 and existed until 1965. The Department reported to the General Purposes Committee and the Head of the Department was the Chief of Weights and Measures Staff 1908-1920 and Chief Officer of the Public Control Department 1920-1965.
Weights and Measures:
Before 1889 the Justices of the Peace had powers and responsibilities over the verification and inspection of weights and measures. The Weights and Measures Act 1878 provided for a national standardization of weights and measures and the Weights and Measures Act 1889 provided legislation for the verification of weighing machines. Under the Local Government Act 1888 the County Council became responsible for the inspection and verification of weighing and measuring apparatus used by traders in Middlesex. Under the terms of the Middlesex County Council Bye-laws the County Council also had responsibility for weighing coke. Further responsibilities were added so that by 1965 three quarters of the Departments work was concerned with weights and measures functions.
The functions of this section were:
1 To keep and maintain in good condition the weights, scales and balances used by the County Council inspectors
2 To test apparatus to be used by traders
3 To check the quantities of pre-packed goods in wholesale and retail transactions. Foods not pre-packed, coal, sand, and ballast in retail transactions also had to be checked.
The County Council owned and operated two public weighbridges at Brentford and Willesden. As a highway authority the County Council was also responsible for ensuring that overweight vehicles were not driven on roads and this work was dealt with by the Public Control Department.
Food and Drugs:
Here too the Justices of the Peace had responsibilities to protect the public against the adulteration of food. The County Council inherited these functions in 1889. During the lifetime of the County Council these responsibilities were added to and consolidated. The Department was responsible for ensuring that food and drugs sold were genuine; that they did not contain unlawful substances; that they were correctly labelled; and that the special provisions for the production and sale of milk were carried out. Milk was the substance most commonly tested.
Middlesex County Council was the biggest Food and Drugs authority in the country and resisted attempts by its local authorities to take over these functions. The Department established a system of informal sampling (formal sampling had to be done by the County Analyst and was more expensive). These departmental tests were made as preliminary surveys to decide on the best selection of formal samples to be procured. Under Food and Drugs legislation the County Council was obliged to appoint a County Analyst. The County Analyst was not a full time employee.
Merchandise Marks:
The Merchandise Marks Act 1887 prohibited the use of false or misleading trade descriptions being applied to goods. The Merchandise Marks Act 1926 gave food and drugs authorities permission to use this legislation in relation to imported foods. This legislation was consolidated later in the century.
Pharmacy and Poisons:
The Pharmacy and Poisons Act 1933 made local authorities responsible for the control of poison sellers (other than pharmacists) and poisons in Part II of the Poison List. The Pharmaceutical Society was responsible for pharmacists. Stringent provisions regarding the packaging, storage, labelling and sale of poisons were introduced. Poisons on the Part II list were mainly domestic in type - ammonia, carbolic disinfectants, insecticides and weed-killers.
The Public Control Department:
Until 1920 the work of the Department was done as a section of the Clerk's Department. In 1920 the Chief of Weights and Measures staff became the Chief Officer of the Public Control Department. The Department was, by the 1950s, run on two tiers with a small Headquarters staff and below that three divisional offices administered on an area basis.
Western Division: Brentford and Chiswick; Ealing; Feltham; Hayes and Harlington; Heston and Isleworth; Southall; Staines; Sunbury-on-Thames; Twickenham; Yiewsley and West Drayton.
Central Division: Acton; Harrow; Hendon; Ruislip-Northwood; Uxbridge; Wembley; Willesden.
Eastern Division: Edmonton; Enfield; Finchley; Friern Barnet; Hornsey; Potters Bar; Southgate; Tottenham; Wood Green.
Divisional offices were in Willesden, Brentford and Tottenham. At each divisional office thee was a Divisional Chief Inspector; a Senior Inspector of Weights and Measures with up to half a dozen inspectors; a Coal and Sale of Food officer and trained assistants. The direction of policy came from the County Headquarters. On the abolition of the County Council in 1965 the functions of the Public Control Department passed to the new London Boroughs.