Unrestricted COS Allocation and 'Assigning within 6 months' rule

[Naeem Ullah]

Hi there,
I have provisional offer from Civil service, the job was initially advertised on 10th January and it is on Shortage Occupation List.
My prospective employer has advised that they applied for renewal of sponsorship license on 22nd April 2018 and waiting for renewal of license before they can assign a COS to me. I have the following two questions;
1. How long does it take these days for Home Office to renew the sponsorship license for unrestricted COS?
2. It will be more than 6 months since job advertisement on 10th July 2018 and if my prospective employer has not got the license by that time, they can't assign a COS. Is it that an employer must assign COS within 6 months even if the job is on the Shortage Occupation List? If yes, can they still apply and take an exception that they are applying after 6 months as the sponsorship license had been with Home Office for renewal for more than 10 weeks (as calculated on 10th July 2018)?

Your earliest response will help ease some nerves.