Blog: For two decades, MPs and staff at the House of Commons have campaigned for a creche in which to park their children during their frequently long hours at the workface.

The idea was poo-pooed by the Commons authorities until John Bercow became Speaker and decided it was a very good (if expensive) idea. Parliament, he said, was behind-the-times and needed to be more “family friendly”.

The HoC Commission, headed by Mr Bercow, approved plans for a creche which would occupy the premises formerly held by Bellamy’s Bar at 1 Parliament Street, just across the road from the Commons. The estimated cost was a cool half a million pounds.

MPs, who were given priority booking, and staff were due to start making use of the new facilities in September after the summer recess, but demand has been slow, if not downright poor.

Responsibility for running the nursery was handed over to “the market”, but the proposed rates were higher than those for other creches in Westminster.

Now Westminster Council has intervened and has deferred granting planning permission pending a public consultation.

The Speaker, who constantly criticises the screaming tantrums in front of him, is probably now thinking that one creche is quite enough for the Commons chamber.

Where this leaves Mr Bercow and the rest of the Commission isn’t immediately clear, although it does mean that the former Tory MP and his would-be-Labour MP wife Sally will have to look beyond the walls of the Palace of Westminster for childcare for their three children, or “kiddies” as Mrs Bercow calls them on Twitter.

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Formula One racing lover Mrs Bercow is becoming quite a little (not physically, she’s much taller than her husband) celebrity in her own right: well known for her tweets, but also invited on to current affairs programmes like Question Time.

She was reviewing the papers on the Andrew Marr Show last weekend alongside former BBC chief political correspondent turned dancer (of sorts) and television travel presenter John Sergeant.

It never takes long for Mrs Bercow’s political colours to show through, and one comment on Sunday realised this response from Mr Sergeant: “Not that you’re biased, of course.”

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Former home secretary Jacqui Smith, whose fall from grace over her expenses culminated in the loss of her Redditch seat at the May general election, wants a job at the BBC.

The former Worcestershire schoolteacher is not proposing to follow Mr Sergeant into reporting on her erstwhile colleagues, but has applied to become vice chairman of the BBC Trust, the corporation’s governing body and supposedly the voice of the licence payer within the organisation.

Mrs Smith hopes to replace Chitra Bharucha, who leaves the trust in October.

The salary is £77,000 for a two and a half day week. That’s more than an MP’s basic salary of £65,738, but less than a cabinet minister’s at £134,565.

The expenses are said to be good, although Dr Bharucha was criticised for claiming the cost of a Sky TV subscription, and the BBC is under severe pressure from David Cameron and Culture and Media Secretary Jeremy Hunt to cut costs.

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David Cameron hit the ground running when the Coalition Government was born three months ago, and he’s hardly stopped running since.

The parliamentary summer recess hasn’t lessened his pace, with visits to Turkey and Pakistan last week, Birmingham and Rome this week and a (potentially fractious) meeting today with Pakistan’s President, Asif Ali Zardari.