Seems to me that there needs to be substantialy more communication between the companies and ATC units.
More and more companies SOPs require that crews be stable by 1000' aal perhaps with a lower hard alt at 500'. It is nigh on impossable to achieve this if you are doing 160 kts at 4 nm. It would require a flap selection, a 20-30 kt speed reduction in under a nm and throttles spooled up. So crews acknowledge the instruction 160 to 4 and actually fly 160 to 5 or just under it. They are not disregarding an ATC instruction for the fun or the hell of it or because they do not understand the instruction they are disregarding it because their company requires them to do so. I'm sure most line pilots and controllers recognise this situation.
So the procedures need to keep up otherwise they become worthless and disrespected. 160 to 5 with a slowdown to 160 no later than 8 would be far more realistic in my view. So we have to get management at ATC and airline level to talk to each other and sort it out. That and pester the CAA. Otherwise operators will continue to struggle to make a round peg fit a square hole.
I should add that in my view ATC units at the London clutch airfields do an outstanding job. For me the real speed control problem lies elsewhere, mainly spain. But then commercialy my ops have been limited to Europe.