Getting back to the Commons on Monday after the half-term break it was straight into the hot issues of the moment. It looks as if we will achieve some progress over planned increases in road tax for high emissions vehicles. As I said both in this column and in parliament, I’m all in favour of rewarding those people who chose the least polluting vehicles but we must ensure that people on low incomes do not see their vehicle excise duty rise because they can’t change their cars as often as their richer neighbours.

On Monday evening I spoke at a packed meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party in favour of the government’s counter-terrorism proposals, particularly now they have been amended along the lines called for by myself and other members of the Home Affairs Select Committee. I just hope that my colleagues listen carefully to the evidence of the senior counter-terrorism officers like Peter Clarke, who have made it clear that there will be occasions when it may be necessary to use the reserve powers to detain terrorist suspects for longer than the current 28 days in order to compete investigations into complex terror plots that are aimed at causing maximum loss of life.

Just before the recess I was fortunate to draw number 10 in the ballot at Prime Minister’s Questions and chose to highlight a report by the charity Mencap which singled out only four councils in the whole country for special criticism for their provision of social care - including West Berkshire and Wokingham. The survey showed that these two Conservative-run councils deny social care to all but those in ‘critical’ need, which means that social services in those areas may not support people even in situations where ‘abuse or neglect has occurred’ or where the person ‘cannot carry out the majority of their personal care or domestic routines and there is no-one available to provide the help needed’. Dame Jo Williams, chief executive of Mencap, said: “It is unacceptable that in the UK in the 21st Century, local authorities are refusing support to very vulnerable people with a learning disability who have no one else to turn to.”

I would like to pay tribute to the good work of Mencap and the Learning Disability Coalition for their hard work in shedding light on the number of councils are rationing social care support, and hope that greater media and political attention will force these councils to take a more responsible position.

This week I joined a delegation of Thames Valley MPs to meet with representatives from the Environment Agency to challenge their decision to dispose, by sale or letting, of 22 lock-keepers’ homes along the Thames, including the residence at Blake’s Lock in Reading. I firmly believe that these changes are wrong and must be stopped. The River Thames is a fabulous asset but also a dangerous place, particularly at times of flooding, and the existence of an on-site presence at weirs and locks prevents vandalism and enhances public safety.