It's raining bonuses: Taxpayers fork out £1m extra... for getting the weather right
THE Met Office paid staff more than £730,000 in bonuses last year... for correctly forecasting the weather.
All employees got an extra payment after the organisation hit a number of complex targets.
Each full-time member of staff pocketed £266.
In only two of the past seven years has the Met Office not awarded bonuses, which cost the taxpayer close to £1million a year when paid out in full.
Bonuses were even awarded after the summer of 2009, a washout infamously predicted to be a “barbecue summer”.
Critics argue that Met Office staff should not get a bonus for doing what the organisation is set up to do.
Others point out that a hugely expensive computer system recently introduced at the Met Office gives forecasters considerable help in working out what the weather might do.
After splashing out millions on a computer system which seems to do the work for them, it is baffling that forecasters are taking home bonuses
Andy Silvester, of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “After splashing out millions on a computer system which seems to do the work for them, it is baffling that forecasters are taking home bonuses.
“It is all the more surprising when millions of taxpayers can attest to the Met Office’s less than perfect record. With public finances still in a horrendous state, bonuses should not be paid out just for doing a job they are already paid to do.”
This year the Met Office’s 2,039 staff including £220,000-per-year outgoing chief executive John Hirst received bonuses totalling £730,814. Part-time staff received payouts on a pro-rata basis.
The previous year staff received £346 each, costing taxpayers £942,000. Over the past seven years a Met Office employee would have received an extra £1,000.
A Met Office spokesman said: “For the past financial year the Met Office met all of its forecast accuracy targets [helping] the UK prepare for everything from a heatwave in July to the wettest winter on record for England and Wales. This included warning of the October storm several days before it formed.
“We are consistently ranked in the top two most accurate forecasters in the world.”
The Met Office also issued weather warnings ahead of heavy rain yesterday which caused flooding in England.
