Annual Conference at London
Central Hall, Westminster, W.C.1
September 10th-12th, 1946

In the year of Victory it was considered appropriate that the Conference should be again staged in the Capital.

No less than thirty-eight prominent manufacturing firms specialising in street lighting equipment will be displaying their products.

Planned exhibitors and stand numbers were: (1) The Electric Street Lighting Apparatus Co., (2) Foster And Pullen Ltd., (3) The Horstmann Gear Co., Ltd., (4) Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Co., Ltd., (5) Gas Meter Company Ltd., (6) Record Electrical Co. Ltd., (7) William Edgar & Son Ltd., (8) Broad & Co. Ltd., (9) W. Parkinson and Co., (10) Lighting Trades Ltd. and the Welsbach Light Co., Ltd., (11) Gowshalls Ltd. (using Radiovisor Parent Ltd. lighting controls), (12) Elm Works Ltd., (13) British Foreign and Colonial Automatic Light Controlling Co. Ltd., (14) Willey And Co., Ltd., (15) Stanton Ironworks Co., Ltd., (16) William Sugg And Co., Ltd., (17) British Gas Council, (18) The Brighton Lighting And Electrical Engineering Company, Ltd., (19) REVO Electric Co., Ltd., (20) Holophane, Limited, (21) Stewarts And Lloyds, Ltd., (22) Philips Lamps, Ltd., (23) Engineering And Lighting Equipment Co., Ltd., (24) The Association Of Metal Sprayers, (25) Standard Telephones And Cables Ltd., (26) Poles Ltd, (28) Falk, Stadelmann and Co. Ltd., (29) British Sangamo Co. Ltd., (30) Edison Swan Electric Co. Ltd., (31) Spun Concrete Ltd., (32) Concrete Utilities Ltd., (33) British Electrical Development Association, (34) Automatic Telephone And Electric Company Ltd., (35) Siemens Electric Lamps And Supplies Ltd., (36) The General Electric Co., Ltd., (37) Measurement Ltd., (38) The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd. and (39) Venner Time Switches Ltd.

Abstract: Descriptions of lanterns and equipment displayed by The Electric Street Lighting Apparatus Co., Foster And Pullen Ltd., The Horstmann Gear Co., Ltd., Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Co., Ltd., Gas Meter Company Ltd., Record Electrical Co. Ltd., William Edgar & Son Ltd., Broad & Co. Ltd., W. Parkinson and Co., Lighting Trades Ltd. and the Welsbach Light Co., Ltd., Gowshalls Ltd., Radiovisor Parent Ltd., Elm Works Ltd., British Foreign and Colonial Automatic Light Controlling Co. Ltd., Willey And Co., Ltd., Stanton Ironworks Co., Ltd., William Sugg And Co., Ltd., British Gas Council, The Brighton Lighting And Electrical Engineering Company, Ltd., REVO Electric Co., Ltd., Holophane, Limited, Stewarts And Lloyds, Ltd., Philips Lamps, Ltd., Automatic Telephone And Electric Company Limited, Engineering And Lighting Equipment Co., Ltd., The Association Of Metal Sprayers, Standard Telephones And Cables Ltd., Poles Ltd, Falk, Stadelmann and Co. Ltd., British Sangamo Co. Ltd., Edison Swan Electric Co. Ltd., Spun Concrete Ltd., Concrete Utilities Ltd., British Electrical Development Association, Siemens Electric Lamps And Supplies Ltd., The General Electric Co., Ltd, Measurement Ltd., The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd., Venner Time Switches Ltd. and Londex Ltd.

Adverts: Radiovisor Parent Ltd., The Electric Street Lighting Apparatus Co., Foster And Pullen Ltd., The Horstmann Gear Co., Ltd., The Horstmann Gear Co., Ltd., Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Co., Ltd., Gas Meter Company Ltd., Record Electrical Co. Ltd., William Edgar & Son Ltd., Broad & Co. Ltd., W. Parkinson and Co., Wardle Engineering Co. Ltd., Lighting Trades Ltd. and the Welsbach Light Co., Ltd., Gowshalls Ltd., E. K. Cole. Ltd., Elm Works Ltd., Automatic Light Controlling Co. Ltd., Willey And Co., Ltd., Philips Lamps, Ltd., William Sugg And Co., Ltd., British Gas Council, The Brighton Lighting And Electrical Engineering Company, Ltd., REVO Electric Co., Ltd., Holophane, Ltd., Stewarts And Lloyds, Ltd., Automatic Telephone And Electric Company Limited, Engineering And Lighting Equipment Co., Ltd., The Association Of Metal Sprayers, Standard Telephones And Cables Ltd., Poles Ltd, Poles Ltd, Falk, Stadelmann and Co. Ltd., Hobbs Offen And Co. Ltd., British Sangamo Co. Ltd., Edison Swan Electric Co. Ltd., Spun Concrete Ltd., British Electrical Development Association, Crompton Parkinson Ltd., The General Electric Co., Ltd, The British Thomson-Houston Co. Ltd., Measurement Ltd., Venner Time Switches Ltd., Londex Ltd. and The General Electric Co., Ltd.

Provisional papers (as planned in Public Lighting #41):

Presidential Address by Mr. W. N. C. Clinch, M.I.E.E.

Would Public Lighting Achieve Any Advantage If Some Form Of Administrative Central Control Were Indicated by Mr E. C. Lennox, M.I.E.E.

The Organisation And Control Of A Public Lighting Department by Mr. Ronald Parker

Street Lighting From The Motorist's Point Of View by Mr. Edward Fryer, Secretary of the Automobile Association

A paper dealing with Gas Street Lighting by Mr. Crawford Sugg

A technical paper and demonstration by a research officer from the electrical industry.

Mr. W. N. C. Clinch, M.I.E.E.
The Northmet Power Company

Tuesday, September 10th, 1946

A copy of the paper was included in : Public Lighting, Vol. 11, No. 42. July-September 1946. Unfortunately the the copy in the archive has gone missing.

Mr. E. C. Lennox, M.I.E.E.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Keywords: Lighting: Authority Organisation, Lighting: Legal

Wednesday, September 11th, 1946

A reproduction of the paper was published in: Public Lighting, Vol. 11, No. 42. July-September 1946. This includes the discussion.

Abstract: Is some form of "Central Control" of public lighting beneficial to the community? This paper studies the pros and cons.

PRESENT ADMINISTRATION
The present administration dates from the Lighting and Watching Act of 1833 which has been amended from time to time by the various Local Government Acts. "Street lighting is permissive - the decision as to whether or not to provide lighting rests with the Lighting Authority, who can adopt any standard of lighting, any season of lighting and any times of lighting and extinguishing. Street lighting is parochial - both in regard to the extent of roadways lighted and to the area for the collection of monies necessary for its provision and upkeep.

RESULTS OF PAROCHIAL ADMINISTRATION
1. General
The rich City or Country Borough has merely to find the money necessary to deal with the lighting of streets and rodways within the boundaries of its administrative area and there is no great financial burden. The work is undertaken by a special Public Lighting Department under the guidance of skilled Lighting Engineers and staff. There is often attached to the Department a fully equipped laboratory to carry out the testing of lamps and equipment used in connection with their work.

The smaller administrative areas, especially the smaller urban districts and rural parishes, find great difficulty in raising sufficient monies to undertake even inadequate lighting schemes. The lighting of small areas are ofthen under the guidance of the District Surveyor, or in the case of Parishes, by the Clerk to the Council, who wisely leaves the type and maintenance of the lighting scheme to the local electricity or gas undertaking.

It is only natural that such a "parochial" outlook should result in an inefficient system of lighting to the road-user in general. Such inefficiency arises from:

• (a) Lack of uniformity of standard lighting on continuous lengths of roadway.
• (b) Lack of co-ordination between adjacent Lighting Authorities.
• (c) Various times of lighting and extinguishing.
• (d) Lack of compulsion to provide lighting - vital places are often unlighted.

2. Recommendation of M.O.T. Street Lighting Report, 1937
This brought out the need for:

• Reasonable uniformity of the lighting of portions of traffic routes which present similar characteristics.
• Consideration to be given to the responsibiltiy for lighting traffic routes being confined to large administrative units.
• Aids by grants from national funds, administered by the responsible Government Department.
• Adjoining authorities to confer with the object of securing uniformity of lighting on routes of common interest.
• Lighting Authorities to be advised by competent Engineers as to how to deal with street lighting.

AVAILABLE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR LIGHTING AUTHORITIES
1. Road Traffic Act, 1934
Section 23 of this Act allows the Council of the County to assist in the lighting of a county roadway "provided that there shall be no derogation of the powers of the existing Lighting Authority." All expenses incurred by the Council of the County under this section "shall be expenses for general county purposes" but this is subject to a proviso which means that any Lighting Authority who already light any county roads at their own expense need not pay towards the lighting of the county road chosen by the County Council. As a result, every Lighting Authority attempts to light in a relatively small way some part of a county road in their area, the County Council are left to gather the additional rate for better lighting of the chosen road from merely the Lighting Authority in whose area the road is situated, assisted only by the rates from those few areas which have so far not adopted the Lighting and Watching Act and heave, therefore, previously no lightign rate but whose rateable value is neglible. Such a clause defeats itself and has not been carried into effect. An alternative could be that the County Council, with the consent of all Lighting Authorities in the County, could become the means of paying for the lighting of all County Roads in the County area. Such a method would result in a fairer average rate for lighting the County roads but even so the the total lighting rate in County ares would be higher than that existing in the larger and relatively richer towns and cities.

2. Trunk Roads Act, 1936
Section 6(4) of this Act is one of clearer understanding and capable of easy application. Under this clause the Minister of Transport takes power for the entering into and carrying into effect of Agreements with Electricity or Gas Undertakings for the provision of equipment for lighting of Trunk Roads. The initiative to proceed has come from a Parish or Urban Authority for that part of the trunk road and grants, generally up to 50%, have been made in several cases. An important condition of obtaining a grant is the necessary approval of the lighting scheme by representatives of the Ministry Of Transport, thus ensuring the lighting is in accordance with the MOT Report 1937. This lessens the burden of the Lighting Authority but applies to only some 8000 miles of traffic route, the majority of which is in open country and not likely to require lighting. Moreover, the remaining burden of 50% of the cost is often too much to be made out of the local rates.

SUGGESTED CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION
It is suggested t he time is opportune for some form of central administration, particularly given the following:

• (1) The amount of traffic is increasing daily and in a few years will exceed the pre-war figures.
• (2) The accident rate during dark hours will rise with the increased traffic.
• (3) The present method of rating for street lighting has failed to produce adequate and uniform lighting on through traffic routes and built-up areas.
• (4) Revenue for provision of lighting should not be a parochial matter.

A central form of Administration would be expected to result in:

• (1) An evening of the burden of cost.
• (2) A greatly improved general illumination of streets and roadways and a uniform and appropriate standard on traffic routes.
• (3) Some form of control by a central body to ensure provision of only approved lighting schemes and their adequate maintenance.

How would such an administration be undertaken? One method would be to apply to the provision and maintenance of lighting on roads the same practice as is carried out in respect to the provision and maintenance of the roads themselves. The burden of the cost of lighting would then become a matter of payment from national funds for the trunk roads, County or County Borough funds for the next most important roads and parochial funds for the least important roads, the provision and maintenance of lighting being subject to the same grants as are now made by the Ministry of Transport in connection with road maintenance.

The objection which could be raised against this proposal is that the richer counties (cities) would find the cost of lighting a much less burden than that of the more rural administrative unit. An alternative procedure would be to obtain grants from a national source for the lighting of the administrative area. Surely no better fund exists than direct taxation of motor vehicles called "The Road Fund" - to be administered for the construction and maintenance of adequate roads to meet the increasing traffic conditions. It is presumed that grants from national funds would not be allowed without some measure of control ensuring proper advice in connection with the individual schemes.

The benefits would be:

• (4) A standardising in terms for supply of energy throughout the Country.
• (5) A considerable saving in road accidents.
• (6) The additional cost of safety lighting above that now provided would be but a small insurance premium, which by a reduction in the accident rate, will eventually reduce the premium for the insurance of motor vehicles.
• (7) Assistance to the police and crime prevention.
• (8) The encouragement of regional testing centres, in the charge of competent Lighting Engineers, who would give advice to all Lighting Authorities in that region.

Only by following some such method of raising funds nationally for the purpose of providing appropriate lighting will the present most unsatisfactory position in regard to the lighting of our traffic routes be corrected.

Mr. Ronald Parker
Abderdeen

Keywords: Lighting: Authority Organisation, Lighting: Education, Lighting: Funding, Lighting: Maintenance, Lighting: Management

Wednesday, September 11th, 1946

A reproduction of the paper, and the discussion, was published in: Public Lighting, Vol. 11, No. 42. July-September 1946

Abstract: Description of an idealised lighting department with breakdowns of all the key personel involved. Also gives suggestions how smaller lighting authorities could use the resources of larger ones in co-operative relationships.

Previous papers on this subject have been concerned with a particular lighting department.

1. BASIC ORGANISATION OF A PUBLIC LIGHTING DEPARTMENT

The whole department will be under control of the Public Lighting Engineer. He has final responsibility and be answerable to no one but the Committee of his Local Authority. He shall have no duties other than those directly related to street lighting. He will be assisted by:

• A technical section.
• A workshops section.
• A lamp lighting and cleaning section.
• An administrative section.

The Technical Section

• To operate a properly equipped photometric laboratory
• To sssist the Lighting Engineer in the planning of schemes
• To supervise the Workshop Staff in the installation of schemes
• Perform street tests
• Study all complaints received relating to faults in connection with illumination, mechanical and electrical defects. Suggest steps for the prevention of any defects.
• To conduct routine tests of materials purchased.
• To examine new designs of apparatus submitted by manufacturers.
• To examine and try out new ideas for the applications of light to the streets.

The Workshops Section

• Install all new lighting apparatus.
• Keep all lighting apparatus in sound condition mechanically and electrically.

• To see that the street lights are lit and extinguished timeeously. If there is central control, they may be restricted to the criticism of operating times.
• To see that all lamps give their full light at all appropriate times.
• To keep glassware and fittings clean.
• To replace electric lamps, discharge tubes, gas mantles and nozzles as required.

The Administrative Section

• To conduct correspondence
• To keep personnel records
• To keep financial records including cost accounts
• To keep, compile and present statistics of all kinds
• To arrange for supplies of materials
• To supervise the keeping and issue of stores.

Scheme For Detailed Organisation Of Lamp Lighting And Cleaning
Fundamental requirements of the scheme are: (i) Each man will be given a fixed territory of operation; (ii) He shall not be required to leave his territory during working hours; (iii) Ladders shall be placed at strategic positions; (iv) Each man keeps his small tools and stores at his home. Each man has evening duties and morning duties.

Evening Duties: There must be a nightly tour covering the whole of the lamps in the territory. Faults will be dealt with as follows: (i) If on low-mounted units, they will be fixed if possible. If a fix isn't possible then it's reported for early attention by the Workshops Section; (ii) If on high-mounted units they will be reported to a special Standby Squad having the necessary equipment. Main roads should be checked first so the Stanby Squad have early notice. Where lighting and extinguishing is by mechanical means, it is wise also to so arrange the tour so that lamps are under review some little time before lighting.

Morning Duties: Each man is responsible for the cleaning of glassware, reflecting surfaces of all the low-mounted lamps on his territory.

Each day a man will spend two hours on Evening Work (7 days per week) and five hours on Morning Work (6 days per week).

The Standby Squad will have duties similar to the lamp lighter and cleaner. They do not do a tour of inspection but will be on standby at the depot, followed by a period during which reported faults will be put right. The morning duty will be devoted to cleaning.

Supervision Of Lamp Lighting Staff
If the inspection staff consists of intelligent and well-trained men, any abuses of the system will quickly be detected and suitable countermeasures will be devised. Each man should be inspected at his work durign cleaning operations. A report should be received daily from the lamp lighter of work done. In checking evening work, checks should be imposed to ascertain that men turn out for their work timeously. Inspection staff will keep a close eye on the setting of redirective apparatus, and will note failures on the part of the Workshops Section to give early attention to reported faults.

2. THE CONDUCT OF STREET LIGHTING BY THE SMALL LIGHTING AUTHORITY

The advocates of regionalisation have been pointing out for some years the impossible financial burden which would be imposed upon many small lighting authorities if they were caleld upon to light all their roads to modern standards, and have advocated larger lighting areas so that burden might be spread. The proponents of regionalisation have based their arguments very largely upon the lighting of traffic routes. But so much concentration on the problems of the traffic route has thrown it out of its true perspective - it is only a small portion of the total public lighting under the control of small lighting authorities.

It appears to me that regionalisation does not appear in the main to local authorities nor to Central Government and any alterations which may be made to the general structure of public lighting arrangements and responsibilities in the next decade will be of a minor nature only. A few large undertakings have given the matter serious consideration and give a first-class street lighting service to those lighting authorities in contract with them. But such undertakings cover a relatively small area of the whole country and elsewhere the standards achieved, particularly of maintenance, are poor. Then there are the authorities who put out installations to tender, but undertake their own maintenance: it is not difficult to obtain expert advice, apparently free of cost, by inviting suppliers to submit tenders. But it is impossible to make any satisfactory choice without independent technical advice. For the smallest authorities, contracting with an electricity or gas undertaking is the best method. But how will technical supervision which normally rests with the public lighting engineer and the technical section may be obtained?

In the case of a number of small lighting authorities grouped around a large, or fairly large one, the total public lighting in such an area, operated as one unit, would warrant the employment of a public lighting engineer and technical section: this would be called the Technical Service. It is essential that each authority shall contribute to its installation and upkeep, and shall be entitled to a service upon an agreed basis. The duties of the Service would be to give technical advice upon all new or remodelled installations, planning them in detail, and drawing up specifications if tenders are to be sought; and to ensure that in all authorities the highest possible standard of maintenance is attained at all times, by means of constant technical supervision.

This arrangement is a voluntary one and can only arise out the desire of the small lighting authorities to get the best they can afford.

3. PERSONNEL REQUIRED: THEIR QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING

Public Lighting Engineer
(i) Executive and Administrative Ability: A gift, but one which can be improved by training and experience.
(ii) Technical Ability: Combination of theoretical knowledge and the ability to apply it in practice. If public lighting engineering is to become recognised as a profession nationally, it is very necessary that the training of persons entering it shall be systematic both in theory and practice, and that there shall be attainabel at the end of training some nationally recognised status.

The outline of training, course lengths, syllabus and diplomas is then proposed at length.

The Deputy Public Lighting Engineer
Normally the department's size doesn't support such an appointment. However, this is essential as a training position.

The Technical Section
This will be under the Deputy Public Lighting Engineer or the senior trainee. His minimum staff will be the laboratory assistant and a junior trainee (usually straight from school and studying Illuminating Engineering).

The Workshops Section
Will have to be staffed by qualified tradesmen of various kinds together with their associated labourers. The General Foreman will have varying qualifications depending on whether the emphasis is on gas or electricity.

The Lighting and Cleaning Section
The Inspection Staff: Qualifications required are ability to handle men with tact and understanding, the pocession of an alert mind able to absorb technical knowledge, and will have served as a lamp lighter for at least a few months. There should be one inspector per twelve lighters and cleaners. In charge of the inspectors will be a Senior Inspector.

The Lamp Lighting and Cleaning Staff: Men who are careful and reasonably intelligent must be selected. He must be able to carry out his duties conscientiously with a minimum of supervision.

The Administrative Section
The Chief Clerk will be in charge. There will be two general clerks, an expert typist and stenographer, and a junior clerk.

Postscript To Councillors
You are not directly concerned with the detailed organisation of lighting departments, but in the long run the efficiency of such departments, and, through them, of your street lighting is determined by the decisions you make when reviewing the arrangements for the control of your street lighting and in appointing officials to have charge of it.

How is the competent public lighting engineer to be recognised? There is at present no hall-mark of the fully-trained public lighting engineer. It arised partly from the extreme youth of the science of street lighting and its emergenc as a profession comparatively recently, and partly because it can never be numerically strong.

Mr. Edward Fryer
Secretary of the Automobile Association

Keywords:

Wednesday, September 11th, 1946

Abstract: .

Mr. Crawford Sugg, B.Sc.(Eng.), A.C.G.I.
Sugg Limited

Keywords:

Thursday, September 12th, 1946

Abstract: .

Mr. L. J. Davies, M.A., B.Sc. and W. D. Sinclair, A.M.I.E.E
B.T.H. Limited

Keywords:

Thursday, September 12th, 1946

Abstract: .