David Ruffley

David Ruffley MP will be visiting Needham Market Scouts and Explorers on Friday 10 November between 7 and 8pm.

David will have a chance to chat informally with the Scouts and Explorers before leading a debating session on two issues they have selected.

The topics for debate are:

1. Girls in Scouting

2. The SnOasis development

David said:

'I really am looking forward to this visit to Needham Market Scouts and Explorers.

David Ruffley MP will be at Combs Middle School at 11am on Friday 10 November to open the school's new recreational area.

The recreational area, which is set on a 1 acre site, has a nautical theme and cost the school £40,000 to build. The entire cost of the scheme was funded through Combs Middle School's local fundraising.

David will be met by Mr Ian Crissell, Headteacher of Combs Middle School, and the local press are invited to attend.

David said:

'I am delighted to be opening Combs Middle School's new recreational area.

The Rt Hon David Cameron MP, leader of the opposition, visited West Suffolk Hospital on 9 November 2006 at the invitation of Bury St Edmunds MP, David Ruffley.

David Ruffley has been campaigning to save the Accident and Emergency department at West Suffolk Hospital and last month over 1,500 people signed his Health Action Day petition to ensure the vital service is retained in Bury St Edmunds.

David Ruffley said:

"We want to keep our A&E, not have to travel 25 miles to Cambridge or Ipswich.

David Ruffley MP, together with over 30 health campaigners from across the county, today collected over 1200 signatures in support of Suffolk's ailing NHS at stands in Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket.

Supported by local councillors from St Edmundsbury Borough Council, Bury St Edmunds Town Council and Suffolk County Council, David Ruffley manned a stall on Angel Hill in Bury St Edmunds between 9.45am and 1pm to show his support for hard working health professionals across Suffolk.

David Ruffley MP, the Shadow Minister for Welfare Reform, has today given his backing to the Countryside Alliance campaign to secure the future of the Post Office Network.

Suffolk Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) recently expressed their concern that up to 50 village post offices in Suffolk and Essex could be under threat if the Government decides to halt its financial support to the rural network in March 2008.

David Ruffley MP has today given his backing to the Friends of Riverwalk a newly formed charity with the aim of raising £15,000 per year to fund the annual summer school play scheme at Riverwalk School.

Riverwalk is a school catering for children with severe and profound learning difficulties from across Suffolk. Many have autistic spectrum disorder, whilst others have complex physical needs and suffer from chronic illness.

The play scheme runs for four weeks of the summer school holiday. The aim is to provide children with a fun and friendship in a safe environment.

David Ruffley MP has reacted with dismay to a new National Audit Office (NAO) report, published yesterday, which states that delays in administering the single payment scheme cost UK farmers up to £22.5 million.

The NAO found that the costs related to additional interest and arrangement fees on loans.

The National Farmers Union has said that delays and poor performance in the implementation of the scheme has caused its members distress and anxiety.

The NAO concluded that the Government's Rural Payments Agency difficulties arose from:

David Ruffley MP will be meeting with key players in the University Campus Suffolk (UCS) project on Friday 20 October at 12.30pm.

David will be meeting with Professor Bob Anderson, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer at UCS, and Professor Bill Macmillan, the Vice Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, to discuss the future of higher education in Suffolk and how the UCS project is progressing.

Suffolk is currently the only county in England that has a population of over half a million and has no higher education institution.

David said:

David Ruffley MP has today asked his constituents in Suffolk to give their backing to Energy Saving Week.

To mark the start of the week, which begins today, the Energy Saving Trust surveyed 5,000 people across Europe to assess their energy saving habits. The survey revealed the UK to be the worst energy waster in Europe and on schedule to waste £11 billion and around 43m tonnes of carbon dioxide by 2010.

Leaving mobile phone chargers plugged in, lights switched on and televisions on standby were among the most common bad habits.

David Ruffley MP has today spoken of his outrage at the current state of the A14 and taken the matter up with the Highways Agency Chief Executive, Archie Robertson.

David Ruffley has campaigned for improvements to Suffolk's major trunk road since his election in 1997.

David was a key figure in pushing through the Rookery Crossroad improvements; however, he was left dismayed after Highways Agency blunders saw the changes arrive £2 million over budget and six months late.