There's no such thing as SRA where I operate so we always go for the most precise navaid that's available at the time. This is also spelled out in our official publications. So it's the old story ... ILS (no PAR either, of course), or VOR, or NDB, or Locator.
Obviously, if there's no ILS, we also check out the approach with the lowest MDA. This is the one that usually includes the use of DME. Of course, with the advent of GPS, we regard it as superior to VOR, in terms of tracking precision (ie none of those nasty little bends that one occasionally sees in a VOR radial. It may not, however, be superior when it comes to the MDA, so we're sometimes forced to use a less precise aid.
This is because of curious quirks associated with the location of the navaid. That is, sometimes the least precise navaid is better situated - further away from terrain - than a more precise non-prec navaid.
I guess you know all this anyway. But the one thing I'm curious about ... if SRA is available, why not use it? You say that the ATCOs don't get a lot of practice at it themselves and I suggest that this might be because pilots don't use it. Perhaps if the locally-based pilots used it more, the ATCOs would get better at it themselves, then you would all be winners.
Food for thought?
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