I`m a controller at Leeds and can confirm that the clearance on stand system is undergoing a trial until the end of the week when hopefully it will become permanent. Its already being stated that there is no good reason not to pass the SID before pushback and a Eurocontrol directive advises against passing clearances during the taxi to prevent runway incursions. As well as this we are instaling a new comms system that means the way we work needs to change by reducing the amount of co-ordination between tower and radar. Clearance on stand achieves this as under the old system tower would request the clearance, radar would ring Manchester and then pass the whole clearance to tower which would need to be read back exactly. This was then passed to the pilots. Under the new system tower simply requests a release from radar as the clearance has already being passed. The radar controller simply says released or passes an alternative clearance (eg stop climb at 3000ft). This significantly reduces intercom work and also is more helpful to the crews ie not writing down clearances whilst looking out of the window to avoid bashing into anything, or taking a clearance whilst halfway through the check list. Any further comments about the system would be appreciated.
Bye for now. Cowboy