As a UK citizen (but no longer resident) it really baffles me how expensive and complicated it is to get documentation from the government for seemingly common

As a UK citizen (but no longer resident) it really baffles me how expensive and complicated it is to get documentation from the government for seemingly common place things. Last year I had my passport stolen while I was travelling in Italy. Getting a passport issued when you are living outside the UK can take months, so I decided to go back to my parents. As the UK is outside the schengen-area I wasn't able to travel there without a passport, so had to book an appointment at the British Consulate in Milano. Three days later I turned up and they issued me an 'Emergency Passport', this is pretty much the same as a normal passport except smaller as it is for a single trip, and costs £95 [0]. When I got back to the UK I booked an appointment, the earliest they had was 4 weeks later (you can't get a replacement for a lost or stolen passport under the 1-day service). On the day I travelled up to London (~£50 by train), paid another £103, came home and waited a week for it to be delivered. Earlier this year I got married (outside the UK and my current home country) and needed to get a "Certificate of no impediment" to say I am legally able to get married. On the gov.uk website it says I can do this at the consulate nearest to where I live, but they said I needed to do it at the consulate nearest to where I intended to get married. So off I went there, handed in the form and paid the £65 fee. This then got displayed somewhere for a week so people can oppose it if needed (not that anyone in this country knew me...), and then I went back, paid another £65 and got the certificate. I also needed to get my birth certificate legalised - which can only be done by sending it back to the UK... [0] In the local currency at a rather poor exchange rate.