Duration: April 2021 – March 2026
Investment: £6,324,497
Current spend: £4,371,210
Forecast SROI: £1.38
Many homes across the UK do not have a working CO alarm. There is also an intrinsic link to fuel poverty and a greater risk of a CO leak and potential exposure. People who are struggling to pay their bills and feed their family are unlikely to have their appliances serviced regularly and are unlikely to be able to afford a CO alarm.
Our CO alarm strategy looks to address this by distributing free alarms to those households who cannot afford to buy one. It is recommended that appliances are serviced annually to prevent dangers from CO, however educating customers with sound advice on the signs and symptoms of CO and providing a free CO alarm helps our customers to stay safe in their home.
Our strategy ensures we can provide alarms across our network and avoid a postcode lottery balanced with providing value for money.
We’ve recently been through a comprehensive tender process, the second one during this price control, which has allowed us to ensure we are procuring alarms at the most competitive prices whilst keeping abreast of the latest technology.
We have agreed to purchase various types of CO alarms enabling us to meet the different needs of our customers:
These are distributed through our engineers as a part of their daily visits, as well as through our partners including our Centres for Warmth
These alarms record data and allow us to understand why an alarm has sounded or what readings were measured in the home. They will be distributed by the FRS and our engineers.
These alarms can be connected to other devices, such as moisture or temperature sensors, as well as being able to be connected to the internet to allow remote data transfer.
These alarms are for customers with a specific need. This includes alarms that have a built-in vibration pad and strobe light for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
During the last financial year, we’ve distributed 157,452 alarms to our customers. Each of the alarms are accompanied with safety advice on CO and how to stay safe, while recognising the signs and symptoms. Many of these alarms have been distributed through our schools education programme, which provides each child with an alarm to take home and make the family home safer, whilst acting as a CO ambassador to family and friends.
As well as our education programme, we also have extensive relationships with partners in our network as they can reach members of the community and customers we don’t see daily. We work with many of the FRS across our networks, who distribute alarms as part of their Safe and Warm in-home visits. We also distribute alarms through our partnerships, including our Centres for Warmth, Direct Access to Wellbeing Services, YMCA, Magic Breakfast and many others. While alarm distribution is key, all our partners also have conversations providing guidance and support on CO safety.
We’re keen to ensure we stay up-to-date on any new technologies and advancement with CO alarms and connected devices. We regularly liaise with our partners to ensure that we’re updated with any developments that may further help our customers. We will continue this approach throughout 2025/26 and into RIIO-3.
