My neighbour and I live on the first floor of a block of flats. We are the only two flats on this floor with no floors above. There is a very steep staircase that as we are all over 60 with difficulty getting down and up. We have asked for a stairlift but have been met with fire safety restrictions. We can not see why. The stairs will only allow one person down at a time anyway. The floors are concrete so fire would take a long time to spread. Any suggestions? 

If it's a stay put block then other than making fire fighter's access difficult the reduction in width wouldn't be a big issue, however the fact it has to be plugged in and have batteries on charge would introduce a fire risk in the stair itself (which there shouldn't be) although whilst it would fill the stair with smoke shouldn't spread if it's all concrete.

Ask them to detail why exactly the fire safety would be excessively compromised - often the excuse of 'health & safety' is used when the real reason is they don't want to do it (especially if expense is involved)

I'm afraid some people will say move to a ground level flat or a block with a lift if you cannot any longer live independently in your current flat.