'There is an urgent need to cut police paperwork and get officers back on the beat. But now Gordon Brown has piled in and pulled the plug on the funding for a new computer system that could have freed up officers to fight crime in Suffolk.'

Following a report in The Times newspaper on 18 April about the blocked funding of a computer system designed to cut police red tape, David Ruffley MP has today written to the Home Secretary to ask for an explanation.

David said:

'Police officers are spending less than two thirds of their time actually on the beat fighting criminals. This is not the fault of our dedicated Suffolk policemen and women. Our police officers in Suffolk are working hard and have cut some crime but they are being dragged down by Whitehall bureaucracy that prevents them from patrolling the streets and catching criminals.

'I saw this at first hand when Suffolk Constabulary officers gave me a presentation on the hoops they have to jump through after making an arrest.

'There is an urgent need to cut police paperwork and get officers back on the beat. But now Gordon Brown has piled in and pulled the plug on the funding for a new computer system that could have freed up officers to fight crime in Suffolk.

'There have been endless delays to this scheme and it now seems that the Home Secretary's much loved idea of regional police forces is also hindering its implementation. Forces are now 'reconsidering implementation' as they look at the Home Secretary's merger plans, which include the merger of Suffolk with neighbouring forces.

'I have now written to the Home Secretary to ask what the status is of this project and when it is going to actually free up officers time to fight crime.'