Budget of the Meteorological department (FOI)

​Request

Further information in response to the result of the following FOI response:

Meteorological department staffing (FOI)

As the number of FTE and wages has gone up from 2017 to 2019 but the income has substantially fallen, can a breakdown of income be provided to identify the type of income lost and the source of the loss? Especially as the budgeted income of £809,000 only resulted in an actual income of £420,625, a difference of nearly 50%.

Response

The following table provides an income breakdown.

The main drop in income is as a result of a revised agreement with Ports of Jersey (‘Ports’) regarding aviation forecasts for the Jersey aerodrome and Channel Islands control zone. The annual payment from Ports to the Met Department is now £225,000 per annum (previously £418,621). As this agreement was retrospectively applied to the 2017 charge after the accounts were finalised for that year, the impact of the reduction in payment affects 2018 income by double the annual reduction in charge.

Income from Guernsey remains unchanged at £342k per annum. Removing the one-off 2017 income adjustment in 2018 would restate the 2018 total aviation income as £323,000 and total income as £614,246. The renegotiation of the agreement with Ports reduced the payments by the Met Department to the Ports in respect of maintenance agreements for equipment, rental of office space following the move from the Airport and other recharges which helped to offset the loss of income.

There was a drop in Media Income due to a change in the level of service provided to media outlets. Previously we offered bespoke services whereas we will now be offering standard services and the income has dropped as a result, although we will also be receiving services such as advertising in lieu of income.