To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the remit will be of the futures group at the Meteorological Office; when the group is expected to be established; and how many members it will have. (102626)

[holding answer 23 November 2006]: The ‘Futures’ group now referred to as Met Office Consultancy was set up in September 2006. The team is led by two individuals with significant commercial and consultancy experience and currently comprises 10 members of staff in total.

The consultancy group is part of the commercial business area and has the specific remit to provide climate change risk management and scientific advice to existing and new business customers. Met Office Consultancy therefore harnesses the scientific expertise and reputation to address business climate change risk management needs namely: accurate assessment of customer climate change risks, their impacts and consequently the business mitigation plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with the Meteorological Office about an increase in their commercial activities. (102627)

[holding answer 23 November 2006]: The Met Office’s commercial activities have been discussed recently in the context of the Met Office four-year corporate plan which sets out ambitious plans for growth in commercial activities. The increase in commercial activities will have a clear role in the successful future of the Met Office by generating profitable revenue from customers to fund future investment thereby helping to deliver value to the UK taxpayer.

The Met Office was successful in meeting its commercial profit KPT for financial year 2005-06, achieving a figure of £2.9 million against a target of £2.8 million. They are also forecasting to meet their target for commercial profit of £3.6 million in the current year.