Hi Alex. If your MP (most probably his/her staff) agrees to check it out for you, they will do it either right infront of you (by calling cic - special line i guess?) or you can email them and they will get back to you much quicker than the ATIP request.
I can't say that all MPs and their staff will do it for you, but it wont hurt or impact negatively in anyway, if you ask them to check it out for you.
Thanks Infoseeker,
i emailed them and they replied-:
>
> If you have not heard anything by end of August, please let me know. Your file is well within
> processing times.
>
> Maxine