See what happens when institutions see everything in terms of “value for money”, where “value” means cheapest in tendering. That is today’s zeitgeist, the latest manifestation being the Met Office losing the BBC contract (Editorial, 25 August). Universities, galleries and museums – and, indeed, the BBC – are seen as business centres. Utilities, transport, prisons, the NHS, probation services and the forensic science service – to mention just a few examples that should be run for the public good – are gradually ending up in private hands or, paradoxically, in the hands of state-run companies abroad. Yet, when things go wrong, the public sector has to pick up the pieces. Is that really the best way to run the country?
Peter Cave
London
• Your editorial misses the point; the BBC, as the national public broadcaster, has a duty to broadcast the national weather forecasts. Any problems with presentation, such as the phone app, are minor issues compared with the need for the most accurate forecasts possible, which your editorial accepts are most likely to be the Met Office’s. Rather than supporting the BBC decision, you should be campaigning for it to discuss with the Met Office how problems can be resolved to improve the existing service.
Dr AG Craig
Bury, Lancashire
• If the government funds the Met Office, that means we fund it by paying our taxes. We also fund the BBC through the licence fee. Surely, therefore, there is no need for the BBC to pay the Met Office. Information supplied by the Met Office is a service to the country that should be supplied free of charge through the BBC.
Stuart Waterworth
Tavistock, Devon
• I have uninstalled the BBC weather app and installed the Met Office one instead.
Pam Lunn
Kenilworth, Warwickshire
