To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the usefulness of British Standard 7971 on requirements and test methods for police riot protection; and for what reasons his Department decided to develop other specifications. (117791)

British Standard 7971 “Protective Clothing and Equipment for Use in Violent Situations and in Training” was developed as an umbrella and generic set of standards rather than as a police-specific standard. As such, it is intended to cover additional walks of life where violence, confrontation or training might be an issue. Each standard under the umbrella relates to specific equipment. Where the Home Office Scientific Development Branch has published a standard for Protective Equipment an assessment has been made that the Police Operational Requirement is not met by the corresponding element from the generic BS 7971 set. Other elements of the BS 7971 set will be assessed to see whether they meet the POR prior to work being carried out on a police-specific standard