Can offer you some confusion from the NPPL (M) world!
The BMAA processes all initial licence issues on behalf of the CAA, apart from cheque cashing/database entry/licence printing/posting.
On their website, they provide a Where's My Paperwork page.
If no problems with the application, the target is two working days - although you can see that they very often do it in one working day!
British Microlight Aircraft Association,NPPL Applications,Sub-Page
Of course, they then email the CAA the details and the new pilot has to wait over a month for the CAA just to print out and post the licence!
As I understand it, the CAA then visit the BMAA a few times a year and pull some of the applications out of the file and audit them to make sure the BMAA are getting it correct. They aren't checking each and every one before issue. So the CAA literally does just have to print and post.
As for time, it does take me a few hours to make sure a student's application form is filled in and correct, and scan everything in case it is lost in the post, and file student records/form copy/cert ID copy etc in the records storage. But then I am not a professional paper pusher.
Again, for information, the BMAA checklist is here:
http://www.bmaa.org/files/microlight..._issue_6.1.pdf
I send a completed copy of it in with my student's applications, although I am sure they then redo it to make certain all is OK.
It may only be a microlight licence, but it is a lot to the people who achieve it.
The BMAA works very hard to make sure the paperwork is completed speedily for its members (both licences and aircraft permit renewals) since that is often the only contact it has with its members and it is determined to create a good impression. It has a monopoly.
The CAA seems determined to confirm to newly-qualified pilots what all that the old soaks say about them in the clubhouse! It also has a monopoly!
BMAA gets £102 for its work (including posting logbooks back to people), the CAA gets £50.
Perhaps what people would focus on is "benchmarking", both on service price and service delivery.
Perhaps the CAA should, by law, be given "performance indicators" linked to other document providers, such as passports and driving licences, who also suffer from peak surges.
The cost of a NPPL(M) for instance, at £152, is significantly more than an initial driving licence or a passport!
And takes significantly longer!