Because the government has just spent trillions of our money on bugger all and need to get an income from somewhere. If there was a shortage of pilots, as CTC and OAA will have you believe, then sure maybe the government would look into VAT exemption or grants but there are probably 10 pilots to each job (that's a guess and possibly a hyperbole so no one start nit picking it) and more than enough desperate fools willing to secure integrated course fees against there parents homes or people willing to squander their hard earned saving on the modular route. There is no reason that the governement would do it at all, the standard has been accepted and 637 names in a country of 61,000,000 isn't going to change a thing. Take the difficulty in getting a loan to do pilot training as a sign. If it was worth it for everyone then it would be easier to get a loan and there would just be a grade requirement to get in to flying training as opposed to the pathetically low, token gesture of a pass mark 'required' by most flying schools. The only grade required, and now more than ever, is to have the access to the money, be it CTC, OAA, FTE or Cabair.
CTC are displaying it on their website to show they 'care'......They are also doing it because the more desperate wannabes out there who can get the money, the better for them. Surely that seems obvious. The major barrier is that not every parent is stupid enough to put their hard earned home up as security for the course fees. CTC may or may not have created the petition, it is pretty irrelevant.