| Description | Bound volume of newspaper cuttings dated 20 August 1931 - 25 August 1939, with loose batch of pages from the 'Birmingham Post' dated Tuesday, 16 December 1947 at the front of the volume.The cuttings include reports of Council meeting where the subjects discussed related to the remit of the committee, editorial pieces, letters from readers and notices. The cuttings tackle areas like the slum clearance and municipal house building projects of the inter-war years, developments in medical science and public health measures, hospitals and health care (including mental health care), unemployment relief and public works schemes, the administration of the poor law, and reforms of the child care system. Controversial (at the time) developments in the development of family planning centres and availability of contraception are also detailed in the reports. The majority of the cuttings were taken from the 'Birmingham Post', who produced a detailed monthly column documenting proceedings at the monthly meetings of Birmingham City Council. A report from the 'Birmingham Post' of 27 July 1932 highlighted the decrepit condition of the slum dwellings in areas like Skinner Lane, but also the potential difficulties inherent in rehousing families who had been evicted from their homes in advance of demolition orders. Also discussed are the problems faced by many working class families on the new estates such as Weoley Castle, particularly the costs of commuting to work and the lack of amenities on the sites (see articles in 'Birmingham Post, 8 February 1933 and 10 January 1934). Also discussed in the reports of the Council meetings were the merits of the various arguments as to who should provide new housing, be it the public or private sectors, at what scale such developments should be and whether such developments should take place inside central Birmingham or in the suburbs. |