Baton Rounds (Hansard, 2 April 2001)

§ Mr. Straw

The then Under Secretary of State for Defence, my hon. Friend the Member for Warley (Mr. Spellar), announced on 10 June 1997,Official Report, column 372W, that the Government had put in hand a programme to develop improved baton round equipment with reduced injury potential. A new baton round, designated the L21A1, is now available and has been issued to police forces in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and to the Army. The existing baton round will be withdrawn once all personnel have been trained in the use of the new round. It is planned to begin to deploy the new round on an operational basis from 1 June. Revised guidelines for the use of baton rounds in situations of public disorder which apply in the same terms in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were issued to the police on 1 August 1999.

Used, as it will be, with a new optical sight, the new baton round is more consistently accurate than the old, and the probability of it causing serious or life-threatening injury has been reduced. This has been verified by an independent medical assessment, a copy of which has been placed in the Library today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. Although there will be smaller risk of serious injury or death when the new baton round is used, that risk has not been eliminated, and the new round, like the old, will be used in situations of public disorder only in accordance with the existing strict guidelines. Details of use in Northern Ireland will, as now, be reported on every occasion and be copied to the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland and to the new Policing Board when it is established.

In addition to its possible use in situations of public disorder, the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) considers that the improved accuracy of the new baton round makes it suitable for use in dealing with people who are posing an immediate threat to life in circumstances in which use of a firearm would otherwise be necessary.

The Government share the view of the ACPO and of the Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland that efforts should continue to find an acceptable, effective and less potentially lethal alternative to the plastic baton round. A research programme to that end has been embarked upon, and a document reporting the outcome of its first phase and setting out the next steps in the work programme has also been placed in the Library today by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.