VFR actually hasn't been "complicated" since I started flying solo in 2001.
All you needed back then was the VFR map, Navbox, a few clicks and you have the plog, 2 more clicks to reverse the route, few more clicks and you have the reversed plog, a few more clicks and you have a brief but nice enough A4 map of the whole route.
Notams didn't "exist" back then. Only in 2003 everybody started going berserk because suddenly they were on the internet so everybody started to pack the system with their "kite flying" garbage.
Weather
was on the internet back then.
I remember doing PPL lessons and seeing somebody in the corner with a laptop.. I wondered what he was doing. It was something one didn't talk about...
What has changed now? Only that the printed chart is left on the back seat; the route can be planned using an electronic copy of it running on a PC - or some other presentation if you are happy with that (e.g. Skydemon).
What has not changed is
flight training, which remains like it was in the 1960s, with a bit of VOR, no DME IIRC.
It is perfectly possible to not do any planning before getting into the cockpit - so long as you have an assured mobile internet connection, and have a backup for flying with electronic-only (non-printed) data. Plus you take a chance that your bimble will be clobbered by a TRA down the road. That's why I usually plan at home (or at work) so I know what I will be doing before I get in the car. But in safety terms it is not necessary.
Where I draw the line is having backups for electronic data, in case of a failure in the aircraft, or a failure of whatever other display device one is using.
Some people now use the Ipad but I bet most don't have a backup for its failure. Also, getting stuff into an Ipad is quite tacky - Itunes, or some other method (Iexplorer) whose functionality is limited to specific apps. Some copy the stuff into an Iphone so that is the backup then.
That's why I print out stuff. No backups needed then
Sounds like the CAA's Corporate Communications Department needs to re-educate Phil Space