I still stand by my point about the basic safety of shutting down the engine of a light single. There is no necessity for it. Twins, I had no qualms about the exercise shutting down an engine during my B rating (during a course at OATS) as this was carried out under a definite set of rules (above 3000, nearby suitable diversion airfield, etc) AND you weren't just going downhill with no power, although I do accept safety levels were (acceptably IMHO) decreased.
I'm sure that insurance companies would class a single with a stopped engine as an emergency situation and not as a normal flight manouvre - even if it were stopped deliberately.
What would the exercise demonstrate? That an aircraft flies well with the prop stopped and the difference in drag between a stopped prop and an idling, no power, prop. All very well but why are we doing it? Because it may impact on actual glide performance on the day of a real failure as opposed to what they are used to from their PFL training? Surely, this is down to ensuring that good PFL techniques are taught and maintained post-training. A better way of simulating a degradation of glide performance would be to start the glide with 10 degrees of flap.
I've bemoaned some aspects of JAR as I don't think they've been properly thought through. Taking a narrow PPL / PPL training view the new PPL requirement to fly with an instructor every two years is a good one and should raise the overall standard of PFL's because, whether the risky shutdown and restart procedure is shown or not, if they can't execute a safe forced landing the whole exercise is a waste of time.
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Get there eventually