§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 2 April 2001,Official Report, column 68W, on what date he received the Crowd Control Technologies report published by the Scientific and Technological Options Assessment Panel of the European Parliament Directorate General for Research; and what measures he has taken to implement the recommendation that an independent and objective social impact study be (a) commissioned and (b) published prior to authorisation of purchase orders for new crowd control technology. [158036]
§ Mr. Charles ClarkeOfficials have seen a copy of the report in question, which is not an official report of the European Parliament, and its conclusions have been noted.
The main direction for my Department's future work on baton round systems comes from the Patten Commission report on the future of the police in Northern Ireland. In line with the commission report, full account will be taken of public acceptability and all other relevant issues in our continuing efforts to identify alternatives to the baton round.