I held my heatshield up with very large washers accompanied by the original threaded fixing nut.I kept it on the car , as I was concerned with the exhaust heat warming up the petrol tank.
With regard to the heat shield below the handbrake, not only is there the brake pipes, but also the go & return petrol pipes .So approx 6 in total.I would recommend all people have this shield removed to inspect the condition of these pipes.They are hidden from the MOT testers view, (the tester will only be able to inspect parts of the pipes that are exposed) however I was horrified that Fords used a bracket that allows the painted pipes to vibrate,rub against each other and they corrode badly. This is a potential hazard waiting to happen. Sudden loss of brake fluid causing brake failure & it spraying onto a hot exhaust could cause it to ignite. Similar disasters with Petrol onto a hot exhaust if they rust through.
If you treat the rust and repaint with hammerite and also cable tie the pipes to stop them chaffing against each other. Vauxhall's seem to suffer this problem too. I would hate to hear of a fatality or even the loss of someone's Puma because they were unaware of this