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 has written to the Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary, Alastair McWhirter, and the Chair of Suffolk Police Authority, Gulshan Kayembe, asking why managers have allowed this to happen and what steps they will be taking to achieve the 2008 target of 68.5 percent of police time being spent on frontline duties.

David said:

'Suffolk Police Officers spend less time on the beat than officers in all the other counties in the East of England.

'In 2005/06, the latest year for which figures are available, Suffolk Police Officers only spent 59.5 percent of their time on frontline policing. This was also the second year in a row that time spent by Suffolk Police on frontline duties had fallen.

'I would like know why this is the case when in a comparable rural county like Cambridgeshire police officers are able to spend 70.7 percent of their time on frontline duties.

'We all know that this Government has our hard working police men and women tied up in red tape but I want to know why we in Suffolk fare worse than neighbouring counties.

'In 2008 Suffolk Constabulary has been set a target of 68.5 percent of their time being spent on frontline policing. This is an increase of 9 percent but it will still give Suffolk the joint lowest level of frontline man hours in the Eastern Region.

'I have today written to Alastair McWhirter, Suffolk's Chief Constable, and Gulshan Kayembe, Chair of Suffolk Police Authority, asking why managers have allowed this to happen and what steps they are taking to ensure officers spend more time on the beat and less time behind a desk filling in forms.

'The people of Suffolk have every right to feel safe as they go about their day to day lives and having a highly visible police presence is a major part of that.'