Meteorological Office (Hansard, 16 November 2000)

§ Dr. Moonie

This is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Meteorological Office. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to my hon. Friend.

744W

Letter from Peter Ewins to Dr. Ian Gibson, dated 16 November 2000: I am replying to your three questions to the Secretary of State for Defence about the relocation of the Met Office. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Met Office. As you know, the Under Secretary of State for Defence, Dr Lewis Moonie announced in the House on 9 November that the Met Office has chosen Exeter Business Park as its preferred site for relocation. Exeter was chosen from a shortlist of four sites that also included Beaufort Park in Bracknell, Shinfield Park in Reading and Norwich Research Park. These four sites were those that the Met Office believed could best meet its needs, following a thorough search and careful evaluation of potential sites throughout the United Kingdom. For Norwich to reach our short list of sites it had performed very favourably against our evaluation criteria. However, only one of the four short-listed sites could be chosen as our preferred site and when evaluating the business benefits and risks, including staff preference, financial appraisals, availability of land with planning consent, local access and other factors, Exeter was the clear choice. It was not an easy decision, but we are certain that Exeter is the best location from which to build a secure and successful future. In relative terms, the Norwich Research Park site had a number of strengths, notably the opportunities it offered for lower operating costs and improved living standards for our staff compared with the other sites in the Southeast. There would, in addition, have been good opportunities for collaboration with the University of East Anglia (UEA), which would also have been a valuable source of high quality graduate staff. Moreover, there was strong local political support and also from key organisations in the area, including Norfolk County Council, Norwich City Council, the Regional Development Agency and the University. The site also had some weaknesses in comparison to our preferred site. For example, there were serious doubts, raised at a late stage in the evaluation process, as to whether the site was actually available. We also had some concerns that the site was somewhat isolated on the fringe of the City and would not offer the profile we were seeking as a world-leading science based organisation. Moreover, our staff demonstrated a preference for Exeter. We have offered to give Norwich City Council's Chief Executive and her team a detailed de-brief in order that lessons may be learnt for similar initiatives in the future. We recognise the UAE's particular strength in the field of climate science and impact analysis and the importance of maintaining and strengthening the close working relationship we have with them. There are, of course, many other organisations throughout the United Kingdom and around the World with whom we have close links on a range of subjects, and others with whom we will develop links as we pursue our strategy of diversification into wider environmental services. With modern communications we are firmly of the view that such relationships can be achieved very well indeed from Exeter. As a trading fund agency, the choice of preferred site rested with me as Chief Executive and was made with the support of my Management Board, taking full account of the interests of the Met Office's customers—both in the public and private sectors—and our staff. This choice was made in the very best, long-term interests of the Met Office, following a thorough and rigorous evaluation process based on pre-determined criteria. I presented the choice of preferred site to both Dr Moonie and the Secretary of State for Defence who, having weighed all the issues, were content to endorse the decision. The two consortia with whom the Met Office is negotiating over the provision and ongoing maintenance of the new accommodation will now work up detailed proposals for the Exeter site. Tenders are due to be submitted by the end of February 2001 and a contract is expected to be placed by June 2001.