I am a controller in the north of scotland, so u never know, might have spoken to you and appoved your REQUEST. I most commonly see it requested when an aircraft makes an approach to my airfield then when able, they break off to leave the zone CTR/CTA class D to land at small strip north of the zone.
The requests i usually hear, is when the crew wish to continue VFR. When they report they are breaking off the approach and "continuing VFR" i tell them that their IFR Flight Plan is cancelled at time blah blah. Continue VFR not above alt x etc.
So basically a heads up from the crew on initial contact, that they wish to descend through cloud IFR in the hope of going VFR on the other side is a good thing. In Class G, as said above, its not really an issue, in essence it'll make our jobs easier. At night no difference really as SVFR required in the zone etc, seperation needed etc.
just my experience...
