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Listing Buildings

That is an extremely interesting line of argument. I hope that the Select Committee will have regard to the proceedings of the House this evening when they consider what advice to give me. I have been reflecting on a whole range of issues, especially in connection with recently constructed buildings and in particular because so many of them have to be funded through the public purse. Let me take an example that will be familiar to my hon. Friend the Member for Hendon. The old London county council fire stations were all constructed at about the same time, and many of them are splendid parts of our English heritage that we would want to conserve. However, there is a little problem: a modern fire engine cannot get into an old LCC fire station. What can we do about that? Clearly, we want future generations to be able to see some of those fire stations, and to see what wonderful, aesthetically pleasing, architecturally well-constructed buildings they are, and what their historic value is—what they add to the community. Clearly some of them can be used for other purposes. They could be, and have been, used to create housing units or flats. However, the chair of the authority with responsibility for the fire service came to see me—I am trying to think what the authority is called.