I should have posted this the other day...

... but I've had family things to deal with.
As you will notice in my previous post, I emailed both Jacqui Smith MP and David Davis MP, however, Mr Davis has now left his post as both Shadow Home Secretary and Member of the Conservative Party.
So Im now left with a bit of a dilemma: Do I wait to see who is taking his place as Shadow Home Secretary and email them, or do I wait to see if I get any kind of response from the Conservatives first, as they may forward the email onto someone who would be able to comment further on it.

Politicians huh!

Let battle commence!

I have, JUST emailed both Home Secretary Jacqui Smith MP via my local MP, Helen Goodman, and Shadow Home Secretary the Rt Hon David Davis MP, with regards to the state of the Security Industry.

Wonder who will respond first?
I have a funny feeling its going to be the Conservatives....

I really must keep this updated

Sorry for the delay in an update here, been having a few issues with my laptop.
There's not really much to say, still going through an email to Jacqui Smith MP, to get her views on the issues that affect all security personnel in the UK.

Incidentally, I would like to ask officers who work in areas other than Door Supervision and site/retail security to come forward and tell us what issues they have to put up with, people like CViT officers, CCTV, everyone who works in the industry really, so that we have a broader view of what needs to be done to make our industry better and safer for us to work in.

You dont have to post comments here if you dont want, just drop me an email, tell me what you have to put up with, and we'll see where we can go from there.

Better late than never...

I should really have posted this when I got the letter, but I have finally had a response from the SIA's Mike Wilson via my local MP Helen Goodman.
I posted the letter on the main APSO site here for all to see.

Update, kinda...

Ok, so I haven't been updating the blog lately, but there really hasn't been anything to put here.
I still haven't received any reply from my MP. All I have had was a breif email from her secretary saying they were awaiting replies from the SIA etc and would get back to me once they had received them - I know the SIA can drag their heel with things for us, but come on, this is the deputy leader of the house of commons. You'd think they'd have gotten back to her in a matter of days, not months.

I dunno, just getting a bit sick of the entire situation. The SIA are basically a waste of time and space that needs a complete rethink, sooner rather than later.

Sorry for the quietness....

I know I appear to have not been updating the blog, but there hasn't actually been anything to put on here lately.
Im still awaiting a further response from my MP, as I understand she is awaiting responses from those she wrote to last month. So once I have the responses, I will put them here, but until then, we just have to wait.

Something I will mention, is that I have started to gather increasing interest from both individual guards and security companies alike, however, as this is still only a fledgling idea, they are reluctant to show their support by being listed on the main APSO website - something that I can understand.

Anyways, like I say, once I have information to put here, I will do.

Ive had a response...

After emailing my local MP around 5 weeks ago, I have had a reply in the form of an official letter from her through the House of Commons, which states:

Dear Mr Watson,
Thank you for your recent emails concerning the problems you have been experiencing with the Security Industry Authority (SIA). I apologise for the delay in replying.

I appreciate the importance of this issue, and I understand your frustration at being unable to receive a satisfactory response from the SIA.

I have therefore written on your behalf to Mike Wilson, Chief Executive of the SIA, and Meg Hillier MP, Parlimentary Under Secretary of State for Identity at the Home Office, and I will write to you again when I receive a reply.

With regard to the problems you have experienced updating your address details, I have had success contacting the SIA on similar problems in the past, and would be happy to do so on your behalf. Please contact my constituency office if you would like me to make any such representations.

Yours sincerely
Helen Goodman


Step one - Make local MP aware: Complete

Step two - Make a difference: Pending

I forgot to tell everyone I have a poor memory....

I knew there was something I was supposed to do yesterday.
I emailed my MP, Helen Goodman about the lack of contact I've had regarding both emails I have sent to her, advising that I was given a timescale for a reply by the person I spoke to at her constituency office, so I expected a reply, and have yet to receive one.

But I forgot to mention it on here. I know it's only a day late, but if I start forgetting to post, this page will go quiet, and the information wont be kept updated - I know what I'm like for things like this.

Whether this will speed up the process or not is a completely different matter.

How long does it take?

So as of tomorrow, Wednesday 20th, it will be 4 weeks since I first emailed my MP, Helen Goodman about the state of the UK security industry, and have I had a reply? NOPE!
The only confirmation I've had that she even received the email, was when I telephoned her office about my personal problem with the SIA, which will be 2 weeks ago on Thursday, and if you remember rightly, I was told I would receive a reply within the week.... long week this isn't it!

I think I'll be sending a follow-up email on Thursday, to find out when I will be receiving a reply, if at all.

And so it begins....

Around 20 minutes ago, I received a phonecall from the office of Helen Goodman, my local MP.
I telephoned her office yesterday to speak about the problems Ive personally been having with the SIA, and to confirm the receipt of my email about the state of the security industry as a whole that I sent to her 2 weeks ago.
I was told, that the email is being looked into and that I would receive a reply within the next week, and that my problems with the SIA should be put to her as a letter of complaint about the way I have been treated by them over what is actually a trivial matter, but its the way they have gone about it, and the principal of the thing that annoys me the most.

So, here is where it begins.
Within the week I will have a reply from my local MP as to what her views are on the problems we in the security industry are experiencing, and hopefully something may be looked into by the powers that be for a solution to it all.

Lets just wait and see....