Islander,
Would you mind, therefore, explaining what step 3 in the below process does, if it's not "authorisation" ?
(Content taken from the Met website linked to, but also similar wording on other authorities sites) ....
Thank you mixture, that extract is a clear example of the authorities going beyond the letter of the law.
Please tell us what you believe you are to do if, by the time of your proposed departure, ATC haven't received the faxed or e-mailed 'authorisation', and a telephone call to the number quoted produces nobody that can deal with the matter?