David Ruffley MP for Bury St Edmunds, today published new research compiled by Conservatives showing that the police authority levy on Suffolk's council tax bills has soared by 133% per cent under Labour. This year, the police precept is forecast to be £120 on Band D bills, compared to £51 in 1997, an increase of £69 a year.

David said:

'We already knew that Labour's fiddled funding has forced local councils to whack up council tax bills to prevent cuts in frontline services. Now we can see that the police are not immune either. The police levy on council tax bills has gone up by seven times the rate of inflation since 1997. Extra cost pressures, new burdens and red-tape have forced up policing costs, but with local taxpayers being made to foot the bill.

'But a fairer funding deal for Suffolk is only one part of the necessary solution. Rightly or wrongly, people are also concerned that police do not always share the same priorities as them. More and more low-level crime and disorder is unreported and wrongly tolerated. Greater accountability- through the form of elected police authorities- would help make sure that the money raised locally is spent on tackling the crime concerns of local people in Suffolk.'