David Ruffley

David Ruffley MP has today put his name to a statement of intent from Suffolk Strategic Partnership to make Suffolk the greenest county in Britain.

Suffolk's environment is already one of the finest in Britain. The statement of intent outlines the fact that the efforts of Suffolk people in caring for their environment, countryside, coast, towns and villages must be built upon.

The statement of intent makes clear commitments in the following areas:

• Climate Change

• Community and Business Engagement

• Landscape and Biodiversity

David Ruffley MP has today released new House of Commons figures which reveal that in 2005/06 Suffolk Police Officers spent less time on the beat than officers in all the other counties in the East of England.

David received the figures in answer to his questioning of Tony McNulty, Minister of State at the Home Office, over time spent on frontline policing.

In 2005/06 Suffolk Police Officers spent 59.5 percent of their time on frontline duties compared with 70.7 percent in Cambridgeshire and 66.7 percent in Norfolk.

David Ruffley has today slammed the Government following his questioning of Home Office Ministers over the number of Child Curfew Orders issued in Suffolk.

David questioned Vernon Coaker and Gerry Sutcliffe, Parliamentary Under-Secretaries at the Home Office, and established that 61 Child Curfew Orders were issued in Suffolk during 2005, the latest year for which figures are available. This was an increase of 51 percent on the number of orders issued in 2004.

David Ruffley MP will be visiting Needham Market Middle School to discuss the future of education in Suffolk with pupils and staff on Friday 23 March between 10.30am and 12.00.

On Thursday 22 March Suffolk County Council will be voting on whether to abolish middle schools and move Suffolk's schools to a two-tier education system.

David will meet with staff between 10.30 and 11.00 to discuss their concerns before talking with pupil discussion groups about the future of their education.

David said:

David Ruffley MP will be attending a top level meeting to discuss the future of the bus service in Bury St Edmunds on Friday 23 March between 2.00pm and 3.00pm.

The meeting will include verbal reports on the state of the town's bus service from representatives of First Eastern Counties buses, Suffolk County Council, St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Bury St Edmunds Town Council as well as a discussion of a future action plan for the town.

David said:

FRAUD and errors in sickness benefits have cost the taxpayer half a billion pounds over the last six years, figures have revealed.

There was pounds 110 million of incapacity benefit overpayments as a result of bogus claims or mistakes last year alone, nearly twice the pounds 60 million lost in 2000-01.

The figures also reveal there has been a three-fold increase in the amount of money being lost as a result of errors by benefits staff, up from pounds 30 million to pounds 90 million last year.

David Ruffley MP, David Cameron's Welfare Reform Minister, attended the parliamentary launch of Save the Children's UK child poverty exhibition at the Upper Waiting Hall, House of Commons, on Monday 26 February.

The photography exhibition, 'Missing Pieces', by photojournalist Anna Kari, captures the harsh reality of life for the 3.4 million children living below the poverty line in the UK today.

David Ruffley was invited in his capacity as Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform with responsibility for this area.

David Ruffley MP, David Cameron's Welfare Reform Minister, has signed Early Day Motion (EDM) 912 entitled 'Unicef Report on Child Poverty and Deprivation in Britain.

The full text of the EDM is as follows:

David Ruffley MP, who ran a very well supported campaign for new NHS dental services in Mid Suffolk, has today welcomed the news that a new dental surgery is set to open in Stowmarket.

Dr Ayse Pekel will begin offering NHS dental treatment at the Station Road West surgery from the middle of April 2007.

David Ruffley has been campaigning for a new NHS dental surgery in Stowmarket since 2004. David has held several market stalls in Stowmarket and organised a petition calling for new dental facilities.

David Ruffley MP, the Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform, will be visiting Infobar in Bury St Edmunds on Friday 9 March at 11am.

David Ruffley is well known in Westminster for leading the Conservative Party in the Welfare Reform Bill.

Infobar is a drop in centre for young people and adults with a learning difficulty or disability. Facilities include computers, a coffee bar and an activity room where courses are taught including arts and crafts and skills for day to day living.