Most of the uniform, protective equipment and public order kit issued to UK police officers is bought through national framework agreements rather than through individual tenders. This page explains what those frameworks are, which organisations run them, what the main ones cover, and how an eligible buyer places an order against them. Chiltern Global is an approved supplier on three of these frameworks.
What is a framework agreement?
A framework agreement is a pre-competed list of suppliers that eligible organisations can buy from directly, without running their own tender. A central buying organisation runs one competitive process to assess suppliers on pricing, technical compliance and legislative standards. Once that is done, any eligible buyer can place an order against the agreed terms. That order is known as a call-off.
Without a framework, a force buying a new batch of helmets, gloves or public order suits would need to publish the requirement, invite bids, score them against published criteria and award a contract. Running that process from scratch for every routine kit refresh absorbs a significant amount of time and commercial resource.
Who runs the frameworks UK police forces use?
Four organisations account for most police equipment and uniform buying within England and Wales. The determination of which one is used depends on the category of kit required and the purchasing routes already in place.
BlueLight Commercial
BlueLight Commercial is the commercial services organisation that works exclusively with UK police and fire services. It runs national frameworks and contracts on their behalf, pooling buying power across forces so that individual forces do not each have to run the same procurement. Its remit covers fleet, ICT and forensics alongside uniform, PPE and public order equipment. It is the primary route for police-specific operational kit.
YPO
YPO is a public sector procurement organisation, originally established by local authorities and owned by them, now used by schools, councils, housing providers and emergency services. Its frameworks are open to eligible public bodies across the UK, which makes it a practical route for organisations outside policing that need the same categories of protective equipment, including prison and criminal justice services.
ESPO
ESPO is a public order sector buying organisation on a similar model to YPO, whose frameworks are open to local authorities, education, central government, NHS bodies and the emergency services. Its PPE and clothing framework covers police workwear alongside firefighter, ambulance, healthcare and corporate categories.
Crown Commercial Services (CGA)
Crown Commercial Services is the government's central commercial organisation. Its frameworks are used across central government departments and the wider public sector and cover general workwear and uniform among many other categories. Forces more commonly use police-specific routes for operational kit, but Crown Commercial Services remains a valid option for general categories.
Scotland and Northern Ireland sit partly outside this picture as The Scottish Police Authority and the Police Service of Northern Ireland run their own procurement arrangements, though both can and do use UK-wide frameworks such as YPO's where those are open to them.
Which frameworks cover police uniform, PPE and equipment?
The frameworks below are a flavour of the ones most relevant to protective and operational kit.
BlueLight Commercial frameworks
- PSU Clothing and Equipment. Awarded as eight lots, numbered Lots 2 to 9, covering single layer suits with FR undergarments, twin layer suits with standard undergarments, headovers, helmets, limb guards, all-in-one limb guards, gloves and boots. Live until December 2027.
- Provision of Batons (BLC-0104). Three lots: Lot 1 friction-lock baton, Lot 2 positive or auto-lock baton, Lot 3 straight public order baton. Runs from 18 September 2023 to 17 September 2027.
- Body Armour. Lot 1 covers general patrol armour to Home Office standards HO1 and KR1. Lot 2 covers firearms armour to HO2 and KR1, including ballistic plates to HO3 and SG1.
- Headwear and Accoutrements. Traditional caps, custodian helmets, bowlers, baseball caps, bump caps, woolly hats, and leather, split leather and textile accoutrements.
- Footwear for police and fire and rescue services.
- Waterproof Clothing.
- All Climate Shirt.
- Insignia, Gloves and Ancillary Uniform Products
- Detainee Clothing and Equipment. Three lots covering clothing and accessories, high risk clothing and bedding, and mattresses and pillows.
The YPO PPE, Workwear, Uniform and Managed Services framework (001204)
This framework runs sixteen lots across the emergency services and the wider public sector. The ones that relate to policing and criminal justice are:
- Lot 6, Police, Security and Criminal Justice Protective Wear. Headwear and helmets, gloves and gauntlets, police footwear, limb protectors including chest, back, shoulder, knee, elbow, metatarsal and groin guards, public order suits and undergarments, police dog wear, and control and restraint training suits.
- Lot 7, Body Armour, Tactical Vests and Associated Accessories. Ballistic, slash and stab, and Taser and special threat resistant protection, MOLLE covers, non-ballistic tactical and utility vests, and associated accessories.
- Lot 8, Personal Protection Equipment for Public Order Situation. Sub-divided into 8.1 batons, holders, mountings and carriage systems, 8.2 handcuffs, straps and restraint equipment and holders, and 8.3 shields, guards, helmets and accessories.
- Lot 14, Accessories and Accoutrements. Warrant card holders, baton and handcuff pouches, uniform and utility belts, thermal headwear, rucksacks, kitbags and holdalls.
The ESPO PPE and Clothing framework (144)
ESPO's framework is arranged across six lots: PPE and clothing, corporate workwear, healthcare workwear, school wear, emergency services workwear (sub divided into firefighter, police, ambulance and paramedic) and body armour.
How does a call-off order work?
Buying through a framework involves four steps.
- Confirm that your organisation is an eligible user of the relevant framework. Most police forces are eligible users of the BlueLight Commercial frameworks, and a wide range of public bodies are eligible users of YPO and ESPO frameworks.
- Identify the framework and lot that match the equipment required. The same category of kit is often available through more than one route, so it is worth checking which frameworks your organisation already has processes in place for.
- Contact an approved supplier on that lot, either directly or through your framework portal, to request pricing and lead times against the pre agreed terms.
- Place the call-off order. Some purchases can be awarded directly to an approved supplier. Others use a further competition, in which case, the buyer must invite every supplier approved on the relevant lot. Either route is considerably faster than a full open tender, because compliance and legislative standards were assessed centrally when the framework was established.
Why kit consistency has become a national procurement question
The National Police Uniform and Equipment Survey, run by researchers at Lancaster University with the Police Federation of England and Wales, gathered responses from more than 27,000 officers and staff and remains the largest dataset assembled on the subject. Its findings, published in July 2025, identified wide variation between forces in the quality and sustainability of issued kit.
That variation is a procurement question as much as a design one. Where suppliers, specifications and assessment standards differ force by force, outcomes differ too. Centrally assessed routes exist partly to address that, since every supplier on a framework lot has been measured against the same technical and legislative bar.
The direction of travel supports this. The survey findings have been raised with the Policing Minister, and clothing and personal equipment are expected to feature in the more coordinated national conversations set out under the policing reform White Paper rather than remaining locally fragmented. Alongside that, the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee commits to placing 13,000 additional officers, PCSOs and special constables into neighbourhood roles across England and Wales by 2029, which adds sets of kit to the establishment and shortens the interval between refreshes.
Where a refresh has to be completed within a single budget year, procuring through an existing framework removes the largest fixed cost in that timeline.
Which frameworks are Chiltern Global approved on?
Chiltern Global is an approved supplier on three frameworks, covering ten lot and sub-lot entries in total.
- YPO, PPE, Workwear, Uniform and Managed Services (001204). Lot 6 (Police, Security and Criminal Justice Protective Wear), Lot 7 (Body Armour, Tactical Vests and Associated Accessories), Lot 8 (Personal Protection Equipment for Public Order Situations) including all three sub-lots 8.1,8.2 and 8.3, and Lot 14 (Accessories and Accoutrements). Valid until 31 August 2028.
- BlueLight Commercial, PSU Clothing and Equipment. Lot 5 (Helmets), and Lot 8 (Gloves). Live until 19 December 2027.
- BlueLight Commercial, Provision of Batons (BLC-0104). Lot 1 (Friction-Lock Baton). Live until 17 September 2027.
Between them, these cover public order helmets and gloves, shields, limb and body protection, tactical vests, batons and restraint equipment, and load carriage and accoutrements. Our riot shields are tested to BS 7971-3, and the company holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications, JOSCAR registration and Cyber Essentials Plus.
What a framework call-off looks like in practice
In April 2026, Lancashire Constabulary appointed Chiltern Global as sole supplier of batons through YPO framework 001204, for a four-year term running from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2030 with a contract value of £186,720. The award was made as a call-off from the framework rather than through an independent tender, and is published on Contracts Finder.
This showcases the potential timeline of a call-off: a force with a defined requirement, an existing framework route, and a supplier already assessed against the relevant standard, resulting in a four-year supply arrangement without a separate procurement exercise.
Talk to us about a framework order
The range covered by our framework approvals, including our slash-resistant public order gloves, hard knuckle gloves, interlocking public order shields and limb protection guards, can be viewed in our Public Order and Control and Restraint collection. A full list of our framework approvals, with direct links to each framework holder, is on our frameworks page.
To confirm current pricing and lead times against any of the frameworks we are approved on, or to discuss an upcoming refresh, get in touch and we will talk it through.
Frequently asked questions
Which frameworks can UK police forces use to buy equipment?
Forces in England and Wales most commonly use frameworks run by BlueLight Commercial, which works exclusively with police and fire services. YPO, ESPO and Crown Commercial Service also run frameworks covering PPE, workwear and uniform that are open to police forces alongside the wider public sector. The Scottish Police Authority and the Police Service of Northern Ireland run their own arrangements and can also use UK-wide frameworks where eligible.
Can a police force buy equipment without running a tender?
Yes, in most cases, provided the supplier is approved on a relevant framework lot and the force is an eligible user of that framework. Many frameworks allow a direct call-off award against pre-agreed terms. Others use a further competition between the suppliers already approved on the lot, which is still substantially faster than a full open tender because every participant has been assessed centrally.
What is the difference between BlueLight Commercial, YPO and ESPO?
BlueLight Commercial is specific to police and fire services, so its frameworks are built around operational policing requirements. YPO and ESPO are general public sector buying organisations whose frameworks cover a much wider range of categories and customers, with emergency services as one part of that. All three operate on the same principle of a centrally assessed supplier list that eligible organisations can buy from directly.
What is the PSU Clothing and Equipment framework?
It is a national framework agreement run by BlueLight Commercial that allows UK police forces to buy public order clothing and protective equipment from a pre approved list of suppliers without running a fresh tender for each purchase. It was awarded as eight lots, numbered Lots 2 to 9, covering suits, headovers, helmets, limb guards, gloves and boots, and is live until 19th December 2027.
What is YPO framework 001204?
YPO 001204 is the PPE, Workwear, Uniform and Managed Services framework, a sixteen-lot national framework covering protective equipment, uniform, workwear and associated managed services for the emergency services and wider public sector. Lots 6,7,8 and 14 are the ones most relevant to police and criminal justice buyers. It is available to eligible public bodies across the UK.
How long do these frameworks last?
The term is set when a framework is established and typically runs for several years, often with an option to extend. The three that Chiltern Global are approved on run until 31 August 2028 (YPO 001204), 19 December 2027 (PSU Clothing and Equipment) and 17 September 2027 (Provision of Batons).
What does Chiltern Global supply under these frameworks?
Police, security and criminal justice protective wear, body armour and tactical vests, public protective equipment including shields, guards and helmets, batons and restraint equipment, and accessories and accoutrements under YPO 001204. Helmets and gloves under the PSU Clothing and Equipment framework. Friction-lock batons under the Provision of Batons Framework.
How do I get pricing against a framework?
Contact an approved supplier on the relevant lot directly, or go through your framework portal or the framework holder's contract manager. Framework pricing schedules are held by the buying organisation, and suppliers can quote against them on request. Lead times are supplier-specific and worth confirming at the same time.
