I have received this from a source I trust well and offer it (edited) for
serious consideration on this topic. The first point being made is that without reports to ATC, or ASRs, you CANNOT expect to get any change in the grading of a particular type, regardless of 'what you think of the CAA'. The second clarifies why we have separation.
If a pilot experiences a significant wake encounter, the appropriate response should be to report the incident to ATC at the time to permit the circumstances to be subsequently investigated. It's not much use making an assertion that the problem has been around for years and yet not acknowledged by the CAA et al, if there is a lack of substantive evidence of the problem as a result of, for whatever reasons, pilots electing not to report such encounters.
There would appear to be a misunderstanding among some of the contributors to the thread as to the purpose of the wake vortex separation standards; these are not to eliminate the possibility of an encounter but to limit the roll accelerations/bank angles generated by an inadvertent penetration of the vortex. The transient characteristics of a wake encounter, whilst being disconcerting for a pilot who might not have anticipated one, are such that they rarely result in roll rates/bank angles close to those considered to be acceptable.
Following my post I have received more information, again edited:
AIC 17/99 (still extant) Para. 6 references the importance of wake vortex reports in that they “allow an assessment of the effectiveness of the current standards in providing a satisfactory level of safety” [my underlining], and explains their use in research and the availability of wake vortex report forms. If you don’t have access to the AIC, the procedure is that if a verbal report is made to an ATSU in the UK a report form will be normally made available to the pilot concerned and, where possible, the pilot of the aircraft believed to have caused the wake. Report forms are also available from the Flight Briefing Unit at LHR. You should also be able to ask your Safety Officer for the forms.