David Ruffley MP said: 'There are two garrisons in my constituency, Honington and Wattisham. Every time I visit I am struck by the dedication and patriotism of our brave troops - and their families. These men and women give so much for our country and we must do more to help them when they return to civilian life.

I have been campaigning for changes to the housing rules so that local authorities prioritise housing for those former Armed Forces personnel.

Currently local authorities can require proof of local links before placing people on housing lists. Clearly, this is a big problem for those who have been posted in different areas of the country and abroad. A change to The Allocation of Housing Regulations proposed by Grant Shapps, the Housing Minister, will mean that local authorities will no longer be able ask Armed Forces personnel or their families to demonstrate these links when applying for housing.

Additionally, changes by to the The Housing Act 1996, will see local authorities being required to give preference to former members of the armed forces, serving members who are seriously injured, bereaved spouses and families and, importantly, reservists who have been seriously injured. This measure will be voted on some time in the late autumn in the Commons.

In the meantime, the Department of Communities and Local Government have issued local authorities with new housing allocation guidelines which encourages them to prioritise former Armed Forces personnel. While this does not place any legal requirement on local authorities to give preference, it does strongly encourage weighting towards these groups which I welcome as an interim measure.

To find out how these changes will affect my constituents I have written to the Leaders of St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Mid Suffolk District Council to find out how many Armed Forces eligible families or individuals have applied for local housing in the past 3 years.'