18 replies to this topic

[JamesB]

Hi guys,

 

I've just been on the phone to the ELO for my area, who seemed absolutely convinced that the acquire only for pyrotechnic compounds <= 100g wasn't in the police's remit to deal with.

 

I've sent him the note for ELO's and the Good Practice guide, and have a meeting booked for early August to discus this, I just wanted to make sure I'm on the right page about all this? Any thoughts would be much appreciated!

[maxman]

Interesting, may I ask which force this is?

 

Rod

[JamesB]

Avon & Somerset, seems like a perfectly nice chap, willing to have a look over any material I can find and discuss things, though I get the feeling I'm going to gather quite a bit of (metaphorical) ammunition to get a licence in this case. I did ask if he had received similar applications, an he said that he had, and that they had been declined, which doesn't quite tally up with the bit about it not being the police's responsibility. 

[exat808]

It is a bit worrying. PM me with the ELO details if you wish.

ER2014 by default of Reg 5(3) requires the acquisition of all pyrotechnic substances to be by certificate ( either AO or A&K). There is no exception.

The Police are the enforcing authority for the granting of explosive certificates as per ER2014 Reg 11(1). There is no exception.

 

Please dont confuse the terms "certificate" and "license" they are 2 different items.

 

Any queries please PM or email me danny@skewenergetics.co.uk

[JamesB]

Cheers Danny, very much appreciated. I shall pass that on and let you know how it all goes.

[David G]

Well the farce is still ongoing then. What,really,was the point in the liasing with the hse when the police forces act in this manner? Sorry Wayne,still cannot be positive about this matter.

Edited by David G, 24 July 2015 - 01:01 AM.

[wayne]

It looks as though the education of ELO's is taking its time!  

 

Danny, did the memo we drafted for the ELO intranet actually get posted?  If so, is there anything else we can do to try and get through to these ELO's?  Are there general meetings of ELO's that we could attend and maybe present at? 

[Malcolm Smith]

There are cost issues with the ER2014 regulations, in that neither the Police nor the Local Authorities have any 'extra' funding to deal with the new legislation and are suffering from budget cuts.

[fruitfulsteve]

A case of don't buy/order wat you can't afford, anyone want to buy a second hand water cannon ?

[exat808]

I am working with the Force(s) involved to ensure that the "word" is spread. 

 

Just a general observation - sometimes all is not what it seems when people post to the forums that they have been refused " for no reason" or have been "put on hold for a while".

 

Sometimes, but not in every case, peoples personal lives have elements within them that should not be disclosed on any forum open or closed.

 

I will continue the education process!!

[wayne]

Yes, i'm sure that in some cases, personal circumstances are inhibiting the grant of certificates.  We only tend to hear from those that are having problems with application and not from those that are successful!

 

Thanks as always Danny for your continued support.

[cooperman435]

Just out of interest would an applicant be aware of those "other reasons" at this point?

Is if someone were to post here saying their application was not being granted etc but not be aware themselves why that was the case?

I imagine so but it seems strange that we have so many so far unsuccessful applications and they all seem to not know a definitive answer as to why, if it were personal unsuitability that they were aware of I'm unsure so many would publically involve us in the process :-/

[wayne]

As I said, you would think more applications we're unsuccessful from the threads on here, but we only hear about the unsuccessful ones.

 

The poll here would suggest otherwise, 13 people with an explosive certificate (A&K or AO) and 4 people with unsuccessful applications.

 

http://www.pyrosocie...-or-ao/?hl=poll

Edited by wayne, 29 July 2015 - 01:35 PM.

[maxman]

Yes but only 5 of the 13 for experimental pyro the others for other reasons which as Exat808 has said may not be fit for purpose of experimental pyro.

 

Rod

[JamesB]

Afternoon all, 

I thought I'd post a quick update having just had a meeting with the ELO. It seems that a lot of the issues I had initially were exactly down to information about ER2014 in relation to experimental pyro just not filtering down to the appropriate people particularly effectively, though given the amount of emails I get at work, I understand why it could have been overlooked. 

 

The ELO now seems a lot more understanding of the certificated I'm asking for and why. (which is due in no small measure to help from Danny @ Skew, so thanks very much again for that!) We had a productive discussion regarding what I intended to do and where, and the relation of the A&K BP for all of this. He was quite interested in my BPA certificates and logbook which I'd taken along, so recommended for anyone in the same boat. Interestingly when I mentioned the issue of competence he said the police wouldn't know how to asses  this. 

 

Another thing I'd recommend is always take advantage of the opportunity to meet face to face. I gather that at least a couple of people had put in broadly similar requests, or slightly misinformed ones (i.e. "can you send me a letter that says I can acquire 100g of explosives") and then refused a meeting, trying to do the whole thing over the phone, which aside from looking as sketchy as you like, doesn't really pave the way for legitimate activities.

 

Anyhow, I should have a copy of the forms due in the post soon, and the requisite home visit to check storage for the BP, and make sure I'm not a nutter about to start stockpiling flash like there's no tomorrow, so hopefully will post an update soon.

 

Oops, one more thing, the ELO mentioned there was a fee for the certificates, could someone confirm whether this is for commercial use only or is there a fee regardless?

Edited by JamesB, 05 August 2015 - 05:32 PM.