Hi J@ne,
I did contact the Bank about the length of time it took and they did say they weren't very well trained on the matter (what a surprise)! Just make sure you get the name of the person who deals with it, then just ring them every other day and that tends to help things!
The Court of Protection order is more expensive than standard POA - you have to pay a Commencement Fee at the start of about £250, an Appointment fee of £330once they've issued the Order and we also paid a £200 transaction fee because I was selling my mother's property at the same time. Once that's all paid, you have to pay a yearly Admin fee of £250 (taken in installments).
Fortunately Mum had a flat to sell with no mortgage so she can afford it, but as I'm a student and couldn't pay the fees whilst waiting for the property sale money, I just told them they had to wait and they were fine with that - luckily! You get your own direct line to your team (depending on your surname) so you can always get hold of someone if you have a query, which is very helpful!
Let me know if I can be of anymore help - it was all so new and scary to me too, especially as I'm young and still at Uni, but the PGO has been very helpful and understanding of the situation.
Sophie