Alex, you are of course correct in stating that the Standards Documents are advisory. Or as the CAA would put it, "they represent what we would look for in a new FTO seeking approval". But as you say, they are not enforceable in law.
Sadly some very useful regulations have now been reduced to mere advice. I personally believe that this change will be detrimental in the long run.
EK4457, as Whirlygig has pointed out, your statement "Keith, I can't think of anything more insanely bureaucratic than a CGI scribbling their signature onto hundreds of useless certificates every month" is a bit of an exaggeretion. I doubt if any UK FTOs turn out that many students per month.
Would it be any more sensible for CGIs to receive a continuous stream of requests for copies of reults from past students who have lost their original copies? This is exactly what currently happens, although the number falls far short of "hundreds per month". It is a sad fact that a significant proportion of students have lost their results sheets long before they complete the course. There is of course no guarantee that the same students will not do the same with their Course Completion Certificates.