Rod1, that is not quite true.
The current NPPL requirements are not what industry wanted and are being reworked accordingly. Although the NPPL Policy and Steering Committee agreed the changes last June, the mandatory consultation period has yet to start due solely to the sloth of the CAA's legal department in formulating the ANO amendment. But hopefully it will be in place by next May. Why so long? Well, if it goes out before 31 Dec, there will then be the standard 3 month consultation period followed, if all goes according to plan, by the mandatory 40 days required for the Statutory Instrument to be laid on the table of the House.
Regarding the 'unlicensed strips' issue, the CAA's internal paper regarding light aerodrome licensing requirements will be presented to Ron Elder on 5 Dec. Hopefully a consultation paper can then be released around Jun 06. But it is unlikely that the resulting changes will be made in less than 18 months.
'Enthusiastic NPPL instructors'? Well, there is indeed preparatory work going on to draft proposals regarding NPPL SSEA flying instruction. But that will undoubtedly lead to yet another Regulatory Impact Assessment as it would be a change to UK law. Industry certainly considers that 'appropriate' rather than 'commercial level' theoretical knowledge should be sufficient for Flight Instructors. But there is 100% agreement that there will be absolutely no lowering of the current standards of flight instruction - the FI Skill Test will stay the same no matter what.
However, instruction on 'PFA types'? I presume you mean aircraft on Permits to Fly? At this stage there are NO plans for this - simply because of the handling qualities and flying characteristics of certain 'Permit' aircraft, rather than their build quality or standard of maintenance.
A lot of what has been written in certain organisations' publications is utter hot air without any substance whatsoever. For example, the question of NPPL examinations has not been raised AT ALL in recent NPPL P&SC meetings; certain individuals may scribble in their magazines about what they would personally like to happen, but there is no agreed committee position on the issue. In any case, the current pass rate for examinations hasn't shown up any particular need for change.