David Ruffley

POLICE officers spend more time filling in forms than they do patrolling the streets, new figures show.

The average time spent on patrol by all officers in England and Wales is now barely 13 per cent, while paperwork ties them up for nearly 20 per cent of their shifts.

Despite Government claims about reduced bureaucracy and more visible policing, the Home Office figures show that "incident-related paperwork'' - primarily forms relating to arrests or interventions such as stop and search - is keeping officers off the streets.

POLICE are targeting speeding motorists as 'easy pickings' while ignoring more dangerous drivers who are harder to catch or prosecute, critics claim.

Convictions for speeding have risen sharply, from 700,000 in 1997 to 1.9million in 2005.

Yet during the same period there was a dramatic decline in the numbers punished for ignoring traffic signs or drink-driving.

Home Office figures uncovered by the Tories show that convictions for 'neglecting pedestrian rights' failing to stop at crossings or driving on pavements - fell by 55 per cent, from 6,322 to 2,939.

MINISTERS were accused last night of "turning a blind eye'' to drug smuggling in prisons.

The claim came from the Tories as new figures showed a collapse in the arrests of so-called drugs "mules''.

The number of prison visitors arrested for smuggling narcotics into jail has fallen by 50 per cent over the past seven years. In 1999-2000, there were 735 arrests for smuggling substances into prison. In the 12 months to April this year, there were only 383.

David Ruffley MP will be opening St Benedict's Catholic School's new cycle shelter on Friday 14 December at 11am.

One of the School's long term transport objectives was to offer improved facilities for cycling to school.

St Benedict's were successful in obtaining a grant for their travel plan and further funding from Sustrans. This has enabled the school to provide cycle storage which will accommodate 40 cycles.

David said:

David Ruffley MP will be addressing the Bury St Edmunds branch of the Royal British legion in Bardwell on Friday 14 December at 4.30pm.

Ron Day, the head of the Bury veterans, called this meeting for David to talk to the Bury St Edmunds Royal British Legion about their concerns over how the current generation of soldiers are being treated.

David said:

'The older generation of veterans in Bury St Edmunds are upset about the treatment of the young veterans of conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

David Ruffley MP has today released details of his House of Commons questioning of Jim Knight MP, Minister of State at the Department for Children, Schools and Families, which revealed that secondary and middle school class sizes in Suffolk are larger now than in 1997.

In 1997 the pupil teacher-ratio in Suffolk's secondary schools was 16.6. This figure now stands at 17. This goes against the national and regional trend of decreasing class sizes. Nationally the pupil-teacher ratio has fallen slightly over the same period.

David said:

David Ruffley MP has today released details of figures he obtained in the House of Commons which reveal that the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) spent a staggering £121,300 on accommodation for officials between 12 November and 2 December 2007.

This accommodation was for 160 people and a cumulative total of 1,295 nights.

This works out at an average of £94 per night or £758 for each individual.

David obtained the figures through his questioning of Jonathan Shaw MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Home Office.

David said:

David Ruffley MP has today released new House of Commons figures which reveal that Suffolk has more of a problem with uninsured drivers than neighbouring Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.

In 2004, the latest year for which figures are available, 5,178 proceedings took place at Suffolk Magistrates Courts for the offence of using a motor vehicle uninsured against third party risks. In Norfolk and Cambridgeshire this figure stood at 5,084 and 3,120 respectively.

The figures were obtained through David's questioning of Vernon Coaker, Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Home Office.

David Ruffley has today expressed his concern that Bury St Edmunds is suffering from a lack of integrated planning and is not benefiting from the focused strategic planning that other towns in Suffolk have received.

David is backed by the nationally-respected, independent Audit Commission which has recently published its Corporate Assessment Report of Suffolk County Council. In the Sustainable Communities and Transport section of the Report (paragraph 80) it states:

David Ruffley MP will be personally manning a stall with local Councillors in Stowmarket on Saturday 10 November collecting signatures for his petition to save the sub-post offices in his constituency.

David will have a stall outside Woolworths in Stowmarket town centre between 9am and 1pm.

In addition David has written to all the Sub-Postmasters in his constituency outlining the threat that the Post Office's Network Change Programme poses to sub-post offices.