This film is part of Free
An absorbing picture of council services at the beginning of the 1960s, with babies getting polio jabs and girls having braces fitted, while Roots is playing at the Civic Theatre.
From the collection of:
Just over a decade after the momentous post-war changes in education and health and welfare provision, how far has Rotherham come in providing the services expected of it? A chance to see in action the quality of public services on offer in Rotherham in 1961: in the areas of housing, health, nurseries, mental health care, home help, refuse collection, transport, the elderly, “the physically handicapped”, leisure facilities and local arts and culture.
This film was commissioned by Rotherham Corporation to explain the work of Rotherham Town Council, providing an outline of council work and a breakdown of the proportion of the total budget spent on the various services, illustrated here. The Corporation was a municipal borough, which Rotherham became in 1871. These were originally set up in 1835 and, after several changes, eventually abolished and replaced by a completely new system in 1974. The film gives an insight into the services the Corporation provided, including primary education (the County Council being responsible for secondary), home help, housing, refuse collection, leisure facilities and some medical services, such as immunisation.
