I have been fortunate with the Table Office drawing my name for a range of departmental Parliamentary Questions with two drawn for Prime Minister's Questions. I have recieved reassurance the Government will implement the Flanagan Review recommendations to reduce police paper work, and Railways Minister, Tom Harris MP confirmed that a Government grant will enable Ipswich Station to be fitted with a lift to improve access for disabled people to all platforms.

Gordon Brown congratulated the Police and CPS on the prosecution of Stephen Wright and reassured me he wants to see a DNA database retained on the current basis, contributing effectively to the increased detection of murderers and rapists. The PM also agreed to address concerns that MOD objections to windfarms were unessecarily delaying too many renewable energy projects.

I was also pleased to hear the Prime Minister announce that from October 2008 the National Minimum Wage will rise to £5,73 for those over 22, and £4.77 for those between 18 and 21.

Parliamentary time has been dominated by the prolongued debate on the ratification of the EU Reform Treaty, with the climax coming on a motion on the question of a referendum to confirm the treaty. The more I listened to the Eurosceptics during the debate, the more clear it was they were clutching at straws in their argument that the Lisbon Treaty involved a substantive shift in powers from the nation state to the EU. This was an amending treaty, not the constitutional treaty which would have swept away all previous treaties such as those considered at Nice, Masstrich and Rome. I was happy to support the Government.

In Westminster I attended a presentation on the Government/TUC Learning at Work programme. As a concequence I will be visiting Royal Mail who already have Union Learning Reps in order to promote this to other local businesses. I have chaired a PLP Education and Skills committee to hear from ministers the progress in implementing apprenticeships.

I joined discussions with Alan Whitehead MP - Labour Part vice Chair for the Manifesto on Sustainable Communities and I also met with representatives of the Connect Senior Manager's Group to hear of their union's concerns about current telecommunications and industrial relations issues.

I thoroughly enjoyed a Question and Answer session with Stoke High School students who were visiting Westminster.

In Ipswich I launched a campaign to encourage the Suffolk PCT to invest to reduce the backlog of patients waiting to be assessed for a digital hearing aid. I have also written to constituents who have contacted me about concessionary bus travel, encouraging them to take up their entitlement to free national bus travel. I am also conducting a survey of views amongst those with an interest in Fair Trade.

I have also offered support to the London Road Allotment Holders (right) in their fight to prevent Ipswich Borough Council from developing their site for housing. This arises from the attempts by our Tory/Liberal council trying to cram every single infill site possible, rather thancommitting to a proper sustainable new community in the North of Ipswich.

I visited the Riverside Clinic and Minor Injuries Unit to discuss with local GP based business Take Care Now, how they have expanded from being Suffolk Doctors on Call (SuffDOC) service to offering a wide range of primary care services in Suffolk and beyond. The MIU is contributing significantly to taking pressure off the A & E department locally and helping achieve the 4 hour waiting target.

I also visited the Little Acorns -Pre-School and After-School Clubs (left) at Sidegate Primary School where new buildings have vastly improved the service offered to working parents in North East Ipswich.

I have also held meetings with Jane Basham, director at the Ipswich and Suffolk Concil for Racial Equality and Tina Ellis, Regional Manager for JobCentre Plus to hear about the implementation of Local Employment Partnerships, another dimension of the Government's programme to get more people off benefits and into work. I also met with the Haven Gateway Partnership's new Chief Executive, David Ralph about the issues for the sub-region since it was designated a growth point and held one of my regular updates with Carole Taylor Brown and Alistair McWhirter of the Suffolk PCT to consider a range of health issues.

I held an Outreach Surgery at Community Solutions in Bramford Road with Westgate Ward councillors.

The Chinese New Year celebrations - Year of the Rat - were fun as ever, and I was encouraged by the progress made by the Get it on - BME Skills Project, funded by the Government and the EU through the Learning and Skills Council. I was able to attend both.

I enjoyed briefing the Northgate pupils (right) who have entered the Parliamentary Debate Competition on the ins-and-outs of process in the House of Commons.

Chris Mole MP