§ Lord Trefgarneasked Her Majesty's Government:
What key targets have been set for the chief executive of the Meteorological Office Executive Agency for the financial year 1993–94.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Viscount Cranborne)The agency has been set a range of quality and financial targets to ensure that it delivers progressive improvements in the provision of weather related services.
The key quality targets set for the Meteorological Office during the period 1993–94 are to achieve 80 per cent. of all business area targets for customer satisfaction, forecast accuracy and timeliness; produce a charter standard for public services; provide timely and apt advice on meteorology and climate issues to Ministers and the general public; to progress the research programme and to satisfy customer requirements to schedule and agreed standards; and to initiate a rolling programme of reviews of scientific and technical standards throughout the agency.
The financial targets are to reduce Net Operating Costs to £45,700,000 (a 1 per cent. reduction on the 1992–93 budget); increase efficiency by 2.5 per cent. through improvements in quality of service, increased volume of service and reduced unit costs; achieve an 8 per cent. increase in uptake of meteorological services to £18,600,000, as measured by cash revenue generated from commercial services to the public, industry and commerce (excluding the Civil Aviation Authority and Department of the Environment); achieve a 19 per cent. increase to £6,700,000 in the gross contribution of commercial services invoiced revenue to offsetting core costs and overheads.
It is also planned that the output costs of all key activities using the new financial and management information system will be made available in 1993–94.