Scottish Government action on uptake in Scottish Linked Fire Alarms legislation: FOI release

Information requested

1. What if anything is the Scottish Government doing about the uptake in Scottish Linked Fire Alarms legislation?
2. What is the current percentage of compliance given that it is now a year past the legislative compliance date?

Response

In answer to question 1, the legislation provides flexibility for people to fit the necessary alarms if they were unable to do so by the February 2022 deadline. The duty rests with the local authority to ensure that homes in their area are up to standard. The Scottish Government published a statement in partnership with COSLA on 21 January 2022 https://www.gov.scot/publications/fire-alarm-legislationjoint- statement-with-cosla/ confirming that local authorities will be taking a proportionate and measured approach to compliance. Individual circumstances such as difficulty meeting the cost or obtaining the alarms, will be taken into account.

The statutory legislation was introduced for homes and not businesses. A marketing awareness campaign to publicise the new legislation ran for 5 weeks in August/September 2021 across a number of media channels including TV, radio and digital advertising, which reached nearly 4.4 million people. Supporting print materials, posters and information leaflets, were also distributed to all libraries in Scotland. Independent analysis in December 2021 showed that 88% of the homeowners surveyed were aware of the new legislation.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested in question 2. This is because an estimate of the number of households of all tenures with legislation compliant alarms will not be available until the results of the 2022 Scottish House Condition Survey are published. This is expected to be early 2024.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

There is advice about insurance on the website of the Association of British Insurers at Home | ABI. They have confirmed that their members are aware of the new regulations for fire alarms in Scotland and will not invalidate a home insurance fire claim for existing customers purely because they have not yet complied with the new law in Scotland. They also say that anyone who is unclear on their policy terms and conditions should speak to their insurance provider.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.