§ Mr. Brocklebank-Fowlerasked the Secretary of State for Defence what further consideration he has given to the possibility of using Permair laminated to leather for the manufacture of combat boots; and within what lime scale he expects to complete his evaluation of this product.
§ Mr. Ian StewartAs stated in the reply to the hon. Member on 23 December 1982 from my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence Procurement, the Ministry of Defence is waiting for Porvair Ltd. to produce, in collaboration with a footwear manufacturer, a sample batch of boots employing its Permair product for the Ministry to test. Porvair Ltd. has not yet done so, and we have therefore been unable to evaluate the usefulness of Permair in combination with the other elements of a military boot. We understand we can expect to receive the trial boots very shortly, whereupon the test programme can start; it should take between six and nine months to complete.—[Vol. 34, c.617.]