David Ward MP will be playing a leading role in scrutinising the Coalition Government's industrial policy as part of the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee.

As a member of Parliament's influential business watchdog, David will today begin work on an inquiry into the support the new government is providing for industry at all levels.

In the first 6 days since David Ward put forward his bill to force the banks to continue offering cheque facilities as long as customers want them, over 500 have joined the campaign.

People across Bradford and the rest of the UK have signed petitions and offered their help to stop the banks abolishing the cheque in 2018.

David Ward MP's Cheques Bill has cleared its first hurdle in the House of Commons, receiving enthusiastic support from MPs of all Parties.

The Bill, presented to Parliament today, would place a duty on the City Regulator, the Financial Services Authority, to ensure that cheques stay in use until suitable alternatives are found.

What have the Federation of Small Businesses, Age Concern, Help the Aged, Unite, Which?, Royal National Institute of Blind People, the Institute of Fund-raising and an EDM signed by 126 MPs from all parties, all have in common?

The answer is that they all have major reservations about the scrapping of cheques. This preferred method of payment is used by hundreds of thousands of people every single day. In fact the total number of cheques written out each day is close to 4m - that amounts to over 1.3bn in a year.

David Ward is demanding five Yorkshire Forward assets across Bradford be transferred to the Council so that the regeneration and development of the city can continue. The list includes the Odeon Building and the former police HQ in the city centre.

Waiting until 2012, when Yorkshire Forward is abolished, along with all other Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) across the country, is too long and action needs to be taken now.

David Ward MP has introduced a bill in Parliament to stop the banks from abolishing the cheque.

Last November the Payments Council - representing all major high street banks - announced its decision to phase out all cheques over the next eight years.

The bill, which will be presented to Parliament next Tuesday, will create a requirement on banks to continue to offer cheque services as long as consumers want to use them.

David Ward MP

Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Bradford East

David Ward was declared the new Liberal Democrat MP for Bradford East on 7th May 2010, taking the seat from Labour.

Bradford East 2010 General Election Result in full

Early life

Born in Lincoln, he attended Boston Grammar School in Boston, Lincolnshire and then qualified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) in 1976. He attended the University of Bradford Management Centre to complete a MBA and a MPhil by research.

David Ward MP has challenged the Ministry of Justice to address the chaos facing the legal aid system.

Bradford law firms have been left unable to offer legal aid due to the inefficient and unfair system by which contracts are allocated.

In the House of Commons today, David Ward asked the Justice Minister to consider fairer systems to ensure that the most vulnerable have access to justice.