Now I have a response from my local MP! He sent me the letter he received from the minister for transport and guess what, it was an exact copy of the "party line" I got from the CAA!
"The safety performance of crew must be assured by the operators, and is closely monitored by the CAA as part of their oversight programmes. This applies whether a pilot is employed on a contract, as a direct entry type rated pilot or as a graduate of an Approved Training Organisation (ATO)."
He'd obviously just passed my concerns straight to the CAA for their response. Complete cop out