Yes, you should consider it (it's a fire protection measure contained in national guidance, after all) ... but I'd personally find it hard to believe that you'd conclude upgrading was required in many situations.
The guidance is poorly conceived, in my opinion... what, in any case, constitutes an "escape route" (any habitable space which people might transit during their escape in case of fire, perhaps) and why would you expect there to be a risk to fire-fighters only in those locations, when their duties might take them more or less anywhere in a building? If they meant protected escape routes - one would hope that you're not planning to get a build up of hot gases at ceiling level in those? I reckon many Sparks will end up using metal clips everywhere, because they won't want to get caught out.
An exception might be if you're relying upon smoke control - e.g. shopping malls, atria - and you have cables running across the soffits - could be a legitimate recommendation in such circumstances, I'd suggest?
