Cleveland Fire Brigade plan to charge for excessive false alarm call outs gets the go-ahead

The plans were approved at the meeting at fire brigade headquarters at Queens Meadow.

Cleveland Fire Authority Executive Committee heard the proposals will allow them to charge industrial and commercial properties if they have multiple unwanted automatic fire signals from their site.

The option to charge will come in once an organisation hits its fifth false alarm of the year, with the charge to be £354, excluding VAT.

The committee backed the proposals and recommended they go before the next meeting of the Cleveland Fire Authority for adoption.

Officers at the meeting revealed the fire authority would have been able to charge for 40 false alarms last year, which would have brought in just over £26,500.

However Carl Boasman, assistant chief fire officer at Cleveland Fire Brigade, noted the policy is not about generating money, but continuing to cut down on false alarms.

He said: “This proposal comes with a commitment to support businesses to understand their responsibilities under the fire safety order.

“The introduction of these cost recovery arrangements will provide an additional means of influencing the responsible person to maintain their automatic fire detection systems.

“The anticipated benefit is a further reduction in the number of automatic fire alarms that result in unwanted fire signals which would allow us to demonstrate more efficient use of our resources.”

He added business will be given fair warning and chance to improve, and the fire authority will work with them to help address the issue.

Cllr Paul Kirton, Stockton-on Tees representative and chair of the committee, noted the threat of being charged would encourage businesses to ensure they do not have instances of false alarms.

He said: “The fire officers will be talking to these people to get them organised.

“I’m quite sure when they understand it’s going to cost them money every time a fire engine turns up at their door for no reason at all I’m quite sure they’ll get the message.”

The Hartlepool site with the most issues of unwanted call outs in 2019/20 was Exwold Technology in Brenda Road, which had 9 unwanted call outs.

The Riverside Stadium also featured on the list of those “performing most poorly” with 10 false alarms between April 2019 and April this year.

Reports revealed Middlesbrough Town Hall and the Municipal Buildings had the worst record for the problem in 2019/20- with 16 unwanted call outs.

A public consultation by the fire authority showed the move had received a ‘good level of support’ from the community with more than 90% of those responding backing charges alongside 68% of businesses.

Officers added there had been ‘a positive direction of travel’ in regards to the number of false alarms across Cleveland, with a 39% fall in the past five years.

However there had still been 503 cases last year where appliances had to be sent out where there wasn’t a problem last year.

The policy does not apply to domestic premises, and officers stressed they will continue to respond to all calls to domestic sites and those identified as high risk.

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Hartlepool Mail website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here. Thank you.