David Ruffley MP has today written to Alastair McWhirter, Chief Constable of Suffolk Constabulary, asking what will happen to the £10.7 million of Suffolk tax payer's money held in reserves by Suffolk Police Authority when the region's police forces are merged.

The money held in reserve is seen as providing contingency cover against a variety of unforeseen circumstances such as major incidents or emergencies.

David Ruffley has written to Alastair McWhirter seeking assurances that Suffolk tax payer's money will not ultimately be spent policing counties such as Hertfordshire or Bedfordshire or indeed any one of the six Eastern Counties with which Suffolk could be merged.

David said:

'This is money paid by the people of Suffolk to protect Suffolk from criminals.

'This is money saved to safeguard the forces of law and order across Suffolk not to be squandered in some regionalised collective pot and spent in a distant part of Hertfordshire miles away from my constituents.

'These reserves should be for policing Suffolk and not spread thinly across some massive regional Quango, remote from the needs and concerns of the people of Suffolk.

'This is why I have today written to Alastair McWhirter seeking his assurance that money paid in good faith by Suffolk's residents will be spent safeguarding them from crime and disorder and not put into a collective fund where it could be frittered away needlessly in another county.'