As I said, I think that Kettering is a splendid council. It is a place we should all pop in to see on any journey that we make, as it shows how local government should be run. May I particularly commend the council for its foresight on parking, not only reducing parking charges but introducing bays so that people can pop in and shop for a very limited sum of money? I should like to see that throughout the rest of the country.
12. What discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on increasing the amount of housing accommodation by extending the scope and level of the rent-a-room scheme.
I think that it would be best for my hon. Friend to wait until the omelette has started to settle. He may care to cross-examine me further then.
I do not know about omelettes, but the Secretary of State is making a very soft-boiled case for supporting the Government, and I am really trying hard. I do not know about him, but I hear complaints from many of my constituents, at my surgeries or through local councillors, that their neighbours have extended the remit of their planning permissions in terms of height, length or type. How many more complaints does he think will be made to us when planning permission is no longer required for a development that a neighbour would regard as completely unacceptable and antisocial?
Order. We must have shorter interventions.