§ Mr. Charles KennedyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his letter of 25 October to the hon. Member for Ross, Cromarty and Skye, if he will list the criteria by which he concluded that the linking of 1027W the community of Garve, Ross-shire to Tiree weather station was both sensible and meteorologically sound; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Roger EvansWeather stations are chosen in consultation with the Meteorological Office using its judgment and expert climatological knowledge. The key criteria taken into account are: how close a weather station is to the main centre of population, how representative it is of local climatic conditions for those main centres of population, and the speed and reliability with which temperature information can be obtained.
For automatic payments to be made in 1991, weather stations were linked to postcode areas which vary in size throughout the United Kingdom. The Meteorological Office considers that the temperatures recorded at Tiree are far more representative of the whole of the postcode area—IV23—in which Garve lies, than those recorded at any other site in Scotland at which the temperatures are measured. The links are reviewed with the Meteorological Office each year, principally to take account of weather station and postcode changes. No changes were required for postcode IV23 for 1994–95.