...senior chap at CAA (but not it should be said, a pilot) expressed the opinion that PPLs don't practice them very often anyway.
So how the hell would he know what happens, is appropriate or is not?
PFLs aren't recorded, logged or otherwise documented so the number of them that occur without raising the ire of someone on ground is unknown.
It's reasonable to expect that far more occur that don't raise a complaint, than those that occur that do. A pretty fair generalisation considering just how many are done during a pilot's training but don't ever seem to cause complaint
Bloody idiot bureaucrats.