HC Deb 13 April 1999 vol 329 cc15-6W
Dr. Brand

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the(a) desirability and (b) practicality of making the installation of smoke alarms in domestic dwellings mandatory; and what steps he is taking to encourage the installation of smoke alarms in domestic dwellings. [79608]

Mr. George Howarth

Smoke alarms make a significant contribution to the protection of life and property from fire and I believe it is desirable for every household to have at least one smoke detector. Promoting the need to have a properly maintained smoke alarm is a centre piece of our new strategy to reduce dwelling fire deaths by 20 per cent. by 2003. The Home Office ran a major campaign with the fire service on this theme at the start of the year. I also announced last December a £14 million investment in a new National Community Fire Safety Centre which is intended to help deliver the reduction in fire deaths in the home.

Since 1992, Buildings Regulations have required all new dwellings in England and Wales to have a smoke alarm installed. This move, together with our wider publicity and educational efforts, has helped to raise smoke alarm ownership levels in all households to 82 per cent. However, ownership levels are much lower in those households which are actually having most fires and we are focusing on how to get the smoke alarm message to the hard to reach groups.

The possibility of introducing a mandatory requirement on all households was considered by the Community Fire Safety Task Force whose 1997 report, Safe as Houses, outlined a new strategy on reducing fire deaths. The Government accepted their finding that, although such a proposal does have attractions, the enforcement difficulties and the infringements on personal choice were likely to be excessive. Instead, it advocated a far greater level of publicity and education to build upon the significant improvement on ownership levels which have already been achieved. The investment in the new National Centre is designed to deliver that outcome.