HD: if I implied that any ATCO would knowingly do anything to stand us into danger, I apologise. I have absolute faith that no ATCO would ever do that (I acknowledge that final responsibility for the flight's safety rests with the crew).
ecj: thanks for that : I will look at the RVA page more closely. The point I made, however, was that very often we call that we are established on the loc, and usually at the platform height (sometimes a little bit above) when we are given a further descent, and to descend with the glideslope. It just seems to be a bit more than is nescessary, especially at big international busy airports.