Having followed this thread with a vested interest (Another Dorset resident)..I will share my experiences with my renewal via D&C.
Coterminous licences due to expire in June 2022. Full application with all relevant paperwork sent Jan 2022.
Deathly silence but ho hum I was aware of the trials and troubles D&C were experiencing......5 months....we'll be fine.
June approached ..no news....phone calls and emails sent...8 week extension granted to Aug 2022. Pressure off....not worrying yet.
Week before extension runs out....not heard a dicky bird......chased and chased.....phones picked up and put down so as not to have to speak to one of the great unwashed .....Eventually spoke to a real life human who assured me an extension/temp permit was being processed and to rest assured.
Day before expiry of extension.....No temp permit received. Panic setting in now......rang and was told to ring tomorrow as they couldnt process the temporary permit until the extension had run out. Suddenly i'm in Yossarian's world.
Rang on the day of expiry and was assured all was in place, I didn't have to RFD my guns and the permit would be in post (phone call noted).
Section 7 permit arrived as promised.....extension until Feb 2023.
Autumn came and went....no news........Christmas approaching.......overseas trip planned for Feb (coming back the day after my Section 7 expires).....panic now setting in.
Rang...emailed.......nothing....
Right...sleeves rolled up and coming in off a long run in cricketing parlance.I decided to remind the local PCC and Chief Constable of the failings of the D&C Firearms Department. When you read what the Police do, what their role and mission is there is plenty of talk of stakeholder commitment , duty and....accountability. blah blah blah....... So i pointed out that they were failing in their duty to a stakeholder and how when said stakeholder had followed all rules, regulations and procedures, the ensuing service was well below what a reasonable person would reasonably expect.
What the head of any department or company hates is a letter of complaint on their desk because they have to act on it and acting on it takes precious time up from essential form filling, important box ticking and general compliance hoop jumping. It also creates a huge blot on their pristine 100% Outstanding service assessment by HMIC and creates more forms, more boxes and more work....so the quicker a "complaint" can be handled, delegated or generally dealt with the better it is for the all.
We wouldn't hesitate to let Jeff know that the toasted sandwicher maker I bought of his website didnt arrived via my Prime subscription the day before I bought it but when it comes to the Police or NHS we seem to shrink in our shells and mumble..."Well it is the Police...I don't want to upset them". Last time I looked most of my Council Tax and half of my earnings seen to be taken away to pay for these "services" and I cant remember them saying they were happy for me to delay filling in my SP30 form for 12-18 months!
Two days later I had a call from a very friendly, professional and incredibly efficient FEO who with the aid of an email explaining my "good reason to possess" for each gun, sailed through the application in double quick time. Later that day referees, club secretaries and land owners were contacted by said FEO and the jammed cogs appeared to start grinding slowly.
A colleague who took a similar approach even had a phone call from the Police apologising for the delays in the service he had, or rather had not, received.
So......we shall await the fall of the envelope on the mat.
