HC Deb 28 June 1957 vol 572 cc61-5W
Mr. de Freitas

asked the Secretary of State for Air whether he will make a statement on the reorganisation of the Meteorological Service.

Mr. Ward

The scope and application of meteorology are steadily growing; and, with the agreement of the other Ministers concerned, the Secretary of State for Air in 1955 appointed a Committee under Lord Brabazon to review the organisation of the Meteorological Office in relation to current and future requirements. This Committee took evidence in writing or orally from a large number of user interests both within and outside the Government service. I am now in a position to inform the House of its conclusions and of the decisions we have taken as a result.

General

The Brabazon Committee saw no reason to question the wisdom of the decision taken in 1919 and reaffirmed in 1945 to entrust responsibility for the State Meteorological Service to the Air Ministry as the Department with the major user interest. It was also satisfied that the close association of the Meteorological Office with aviation since 1919 has been to the mutual advantage of both parties.

The Brabazon Report suggests that the present standing of the Office as a scientific institution is high, that user interests are appreciative of the advances achieved in recent years and that they have great confidence in the services provided.

The Committee welcomed the work which was being done by the research staff on the development of numerical methods of forecasting and the decision to install an electronic computer at the Central Forecasting Office. They also considered that there was a possibility of achieving greater precision in local forecasting by more detailed study of local weather characteristics, coupled with the use of radar scanners.

The Committee considered that there was at present a definite loss of effort owing to the dispersal of the Office between Central London, Harrow, Stanmore and Dunstable, and they welcomed the plan, of which the House is already aware, for developing a combined headquarters in the New Town of Bracknell.

Organisation

The Committee felt that, in view of increased commitments, some reorganisation and re-grading within the office was desirable. As a result of their recommendations, the Office has been reorganised in "three prongs", two prongs, each under a Chief Scientific Officer, being concerned with forecasting and services and with research, and the third, under an Assistant Secretary, with administration and general duties. The status and salary of the Head of the Office have also been improved, and his title altered to Director-General. This reorganisation will, I believe, result in a considerable strengthening of the Office and in making it more self-contained and self-reliant.

Staffing

The Committee devoted a good deal of attention to the prospects offered to members of the Scientific Civil Service entering the Meteorological Office. Certain measures approved as a result of its Report, which include an increase in the number of higher level posts, a reduction in the overall establishment of the scientific officer class and an increase in the number of senior appointments open to the experimental officer class, will improve the prospects available to entrants to both classes.

The Committee expressed the hope that it will be possible to bring home to the universities the challenge which meteorology should present to the imagination of the first-class physicist or mathematician; and I share its hope that it will be possible, with the new organisation now adopted, to improve recruitment, particularly to the scientific officer class, which has been lagging in recent years.

Research

The Committee reviewed the scale of effort devoted to research and saw no reason to suggest any changes in the constitution or terms of reference of the Meteorological Research Committee, which was formed in 1942 and contains a number of eminent outside scientists; the system of determining priorities; or the distribution of the research programme between the Meteorological Office and the universities. They felt, however, that the arrangement under which a separate grant is made to the Royal Society for fundamental research should be reviewed at the end of the current five-year period and that grants for research emanating from the Air Ministry should thereafter normally be channelled through the Meteorological Research Committee. This recommendation is still under discussion.

The Committee considered that a system of research grants for post-graduate study in meteorology would be helpful. The Department of Scientific and Industrial Research is in fact willing to consider awards under the scheme which it administers, and I hope there will be an increasing number of candidates for research grants in meteorology.

Services

The Committee considered that it was desirable to review the manpower requirement for aviation services and to effect such reductions as may be possible by the centralisation of forecasting for different airfields and increased use of facsimile transmission of charts. So far as the R.A.F. is concerned, centralised forecasting is now being carried out experimentally within one Command; and the requirements of two other Commands are the subject of special study. The requirements of civil aviation are being reviewed in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation to see whether any simplification is possible, particularly for the shorter flights.

The Brabazon Committee was of the opinion that a requirement existed for local forecasting units for non-aviation users, particularly in agricultural and horticultural districts. It recognised, however, that manpower considerations were likely to limit the establishment of such offices in the immediate future, and considered that a more detailed examination was required before any pattern of development could be approved.

It will be easier to judge the demand for such a scheme when rather more experience has been gained of the working of the automatic telephone weather service. This service has now been extended to a number of provincial cities, and my right hon. Friend the Postmaster-General and I hope that further extensions will be possible soon. In considering such extensions we shall have in mind not only whether the service will pay its way but also the opinion expressed by the Brabazon Committee about its value in agricultural and horticultural districts, and the extensions now planned include some centres in farming areas.

Meteorological Committee

The Brabazon Committee considered that the Meteorological Committee which was formed in 1919 to act as a "board of management" for the Meteorological Office and which includes representatives of the various departments with a user interest in meteorology, the universities, the Royal Society and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, was too large and had ceased to perform any very useful function. In view of the close relations which exist at working level between the Meteorological Office and the other bodies concerned, the Brabazon Committee considered that a representative committee was unnecessary, and they recommended that the existing committee should be replaced by an advisory committee of not more than five members, all of whom would be outside the Government service. I have accepted this recommendation, and the new Committee will consist of an independent chairman and four members, two of whom will be scientists and two normally laymen. The Chairman of the Meteorological Research Committee will serve on the new committee ex officio and the other scientific member will be appointed after consultation with the President of the Royal Society. I am glad to say that Lord Hurcomb has accepted my invitation to become Chairman of the new Committee.

The Committee will be required to keep under review the progress and efficiency of the Meteorological Office and the broad lines of its current and future policy; the general scale of effort and expenditure devoted to the Meteorological Office; and the contacts between the Meteorological Office and those who use its services.

The Brabazon Committee saw no reason to suggest any change in the terms of reference of the Meteorological Advisory Committee for Scotland.

Conclusion

I should like to express my thanks to Lord Brabazon and the members of his Committee for their very valuable Report, which will be of great assistance to us in charting the future development of the Meteorological Service.