A further 13 Children's Centres - bringing the total to 48 - will be opened within 12 months across Suffolk. These will be in areas such as Woodbridge, Stowmarket, Sudbury, Stanton and Bury St Edmunds.
We have embarked on the most ambitious development of Suffolk's schools for a generation or more. Over the next four years we will implement the next steps in the schools programme, to deliver an enhanced two-tier education system, and to build new secondary schools and sixth form colleges and refurbish existing ones.
We have already secured £150 million to fund re-building work in Ipswich and Felixstowe over the next year, and will push ahead with a project which, across Suffolk, is anticipated to see £750 million worth of school improvements.
As an example, over the course of the project, there could be an investment of around £175 million for school buildings in Ipswich, £140 million for Lowestoft, Beccles and Bungay, and £35 million in Felixstowe.
Conservatives recognise the vital importance of primary schools and the role that they play at the heart of local communities. We will always be committed to preserving primary schools, wherever they are viable.
We believe that the role of parents in the education of their children is absolutely central. Parent-school contracts are a way of enshrining the responsibilities of both the school and the parents in their children's education. Schools in Suffolk already do excellent work forging strong relationships with parents. We will work with them to find ways of developing the contracts between the schools and parents wherever practicable.
We are wholeheartedly committed to supporting the £50 million development of a university campus in Lowestoft, providing state-of-the-art facilities of educational excellence. This will be completed by September 2011.
In addition, the new Bury St Edmunds campus - a project costing £80 million overall - is due for completion by 2012.
Together with further development at the University Quay site in Ipswich, these projects are of a piece with our plans to improve the education and skills of people in Suffolk.
Suffolk Conservatives are committed to creating - academies - where it can be demonstrated that they can help transform the learning opportunities of the children. The County Council has worked with the governors and staff at Holywells School in Ipswich to find ways of improving the results at the school. We are now well on the way to establishing Suffolk's first - Academy - and will continue to pursue this, to ensure the best possible educational opportunities for young people in the area.
Over the next three years, a Conservative led County Council will open new - LEAP - (Learning and Enterprise Access Point) centres. These are places which provide teaching, learning facilities, advice, guidance and access to IT equipment to help people with education and training. The County Council has, in partnership with the Learning and Skills Council and other local bodies, opened our first LEAP Centres over the last year, and will have 14 of them, placed in easily-accessible - shop front - locations in market towns across Suffolk, within the next three years.
We are committed to helping Suffolk's young people prepare for employment. This means making sure that school and college leavers have more choice and the right skills to follow their ambitions.
Over the next four years, we will be looking to establish the Suffolk Apprenticeship Scheme. This will be an opportunity for people who want to learn a new skill or trade, while getting valuable work experience. Though starting it within the County Council, our vision is to create a Suffolk-wide apprenticeship revolution, broadening opportunities for young people in every part of the county.
We aim to encourage a large number of other organisations and businesses to participate, to ensure Suffolk's young people are equipped for the workplace, and given the opportunity to build a successful career in the county.
We believe Suffolk is a great place to live and work.
However, skill and qualification levels in Suffolk are below the national average. This is worrying because, while there has been a marked growth in the number of skilled jobs available in the county, the number of unskilled jobs is falling dramatically - by 7,200 in the last four years alone.
This means that people without any formal qualifications or training will find it progressively harder to get work. At the same time, businesses will move to areas of the country where people are better educated and have the right skills for the jobs. In short, Suffolk is in danger of getting left behind.
When we came to power four years ago, we saw how serious this problem was, and immediately set to work on a clear and comprehensive programme of reform, designed to bring a lasting improvement to education and skills in Suffolk.
The Conservative led County Council opened new Children's Centres, providing support for young families. We embarked on a review of how we provide education in Suffolk, and are planning a large re-building programme, together with strong recruitment and training programmes for teachers, designed to equip Suffolk with the expertise and the learning facilities needed to provide our children with a modern, high-quality education.
We are also investing in post-16 education and training, to give young people and, just as importantly, older people, across the county, the opportunities to get the qualifications, training and skills they need.
Not only will this radical programme of change help children, young people and adults reach their full potential, it will also mean that people with ambition and talent stay and build lives in the county and that we attract new people to Suffolk, contributing to our economy.
We are doing all this because it will give people the chance of a better quality of life, with more choice, more opportunity and a higher standard of living. Our programme of improvements still has a long way to go, but in the first four years of this Conservative administration, we have laid the foundations for a better future for Suffolk.
The next four years will be absolutely crucial, if we are to build on the work we have done so far, and turn our plans into reality.
Promoted by Peter Burgoyne on behalf of Suffolk Conservatives both at Middle Barn, Longlands Place, Wenham Road, Washbrook, Ipswich IP8 3EZ