Public health acts 1848 - 1875

As a result of a growing Sanitary Reform Movement, parliament passed a series of acts in an attempt to improve sanitary conditions in the thriving urban areas. The act of 1848 (the first of its kind) provided for a Central Board of Health with powers to supervise street cleaning, refuse collection, water supply and sewerage disposal. The later acts passed responsibility to local boards of health and extended their powers to include drainage and sanitation.