Yes, and the CAA are the power over the ANO, and may issue exemptions should they so choose, which includes several companies, of which I know since I have friends flying with them, single pilot, without autopilot, in IFR, in fully compliance with their AOC's and authorisations. Which was actually stated in my last post,
...the CAA can give exemptions...
Rules are average cases, but there will obviously be exceptions to these rules, which is why we need people like the CAA to look at individual requirements of operators in a clear, logical and sensible way, which is the experience I've had with them.
We don't all do exactly the same job, therefore, rules need to be ammended to suit everyones requirements, but obviously within reasonable boundries.