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Public Weather Service Customer Group

This group oversees the Public Weather Service from a customer point of view — ensuring the quality, suitability and value-for-money of the service provided.

PWSCG Annual Report 2008/9 (PDF, 154 kB)

Responsibilities

Specific responsibilities of the group include:

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  • Setting requirements and targets of the PWS and specifying its outputs, as well as monitoring their quality.
  • Consulting public users and professional partners of PWS to ensure their interests are represented.
  • Checking the efficiency and value-for-money of the PWS.
  • Ensuring international commitments are met within the PWS.
  • Agreeing funding for services based on past performance and present requirements and providing support for additional funding from alternative sources.
  • Maintaining a high level of communication with the Met Office Executive and Owner’s Council.

Relationships and lines of communication

The Under Secretary of State acts on behalf of the Defence Secretary as Owner, and is advised by the Met Office Owner’s Council. This council is the means through which the Met Office reports performance and seeks top-level guidance from the Ministry. The Chairman of the PWS Customer Group is a member of the Owner’s Council and reports to the Secretary of State for Defence through MOD 2nd Permanent Under Secretary.

Current membership


  • Nick Baldwin, Independent Chairman
  • Trevor Pethick, Independent Member
  • Craig Woolhouse, Head of Incidents and Flood Response, Environment Agency
  • Alan Goodwin, Deputy Chief Constable, Derbyshire Constabulary — ACPO
  • Trevor Stratford, Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, CFOA.
  • Peter Tallantire, Deputy Head Civil Contingencies Secretariat, Cabinet Office
  • Derek Turner, Traffic Operations Director, Highways Agency
  • Ian Walford, Head of Fire and Civil Contingencies, Scottish Executive
  • Neil Jones, Assembly Resilience Co-ordinator — Welsh Assembly
  • Ian Hoult, Emergency Planning Manager, Hampshire CC, Local Government Association rep

Supported and advised by:

  • Richard Chapman, Editorial Manager BBC Weather Centre
  • Alyson Bedford, Head of PWSCG Secretariat — MOD
  • Clare Simpson, Support Manager PWSCG Secretariat

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