mad jock:
Just now it doesn't matter if you can see it or not they will try and shift the traffic to the north by over 5 miles or hold them at Munlochy bay until its landed.
no stupid radar separations applied to traffic that can see each other
Do they really do that at Inverness? If so, where do they train their ATCOs? An aircraft on a Deconfliction Service descending below 2700ft on the final approach to 05 (i.e. at 8.3 miles) or 2100ft on the approach to 23 (6.4 miles), cannot in any case be provided with deconfliction advice on any conflicting traffic because they're then below the ATC Surveillance Minimum Altitude. All the controller can do is provide traffic information. And that would have to be done before the aircraft transfers from Approach to Tower. And if the conflict occurs before the IFR descends below those levels or transfers to Twr, for VFR traffic that's speaking to Inverness, the separation should be 3nm not 5nm (unless for some reason CAA has not approved 3nm separation). And as you hint, even if the IFR is on a DS, if the controller gives traffic info to both pilots and they both confirm they have the other in sight, there is no requirement to provide 5nm separation. Either the controller can ask if the IFR is happy to continue against that traffic, or the pilot of the IFR can say he is happy to continue because he is visual with the conflicting traffic. That kind of agreement is normal in ATC operations in Class G.
Funnily enough, my last experience of a VFR transit across the top of Inverness involved us being cleared through the overhead when an Easyjet was taking off, without us being asked if we were visual with him and without the controller asking the Easyjet if he was visual with us or even being told of our presence. Got to admit I was horrified. Wasn't unsafe cos we were visual throughout but I watched him like a hawk in case he did an early turn to the south.