Met Office job for the boss’s daughter

THE Met Office gave a job that was never advertised to the daughter of its £230,000-a-year chief scientist.

When Dame Julia Slingo joined the forecaster, daughter Anna Slingo-Hutt was handed a position making videos for the weather service. She was 23 and had graduated only a few months before she was given the role, which never previously existed.

Dame Julia’s daughter has since been promoted and now runs the Met Office’s social media campaigns.

Last night, MPs called for an investigation. The row comes less than a month after the Met Office was told it was losing its contract as the BBC’s official forecaster.

Today, the Mail can also reveal Dame Julia worked part-time for more than two years while earning more than the Prime Minister. In addition, she was living 150 miles away from the Met Office’s headquarters – and taxpayers were billed up to £20,000 a year to cover her travel and accommodation.

Dame Julia, 64, was appointed chief scientist in February 2009. The same month, her married daughter was given a job at the Met Office on a temporary contract. Mrs Slingo-Hutt had graduated with a Master’s degree in post-production editing from Bournemouth University months earlier.

Civil Service rules ban employees from any involvement in the hiring of close family members. Mrs Slingo-Hutt, now 29, has since been made social media manager on about £28,000 a year, plus bonuses.

Tory MP Philip Hollobone said: ‘Anyone who is in receipt of a public salary needs to be accountable for that money and the employment of relatives needs to be squeaky clean and above board.’

A spokesman for the Met Office said: ‘All Met Office employees are recruited through a rigorous process. Dame Julia was not involved in the hiring of her daughter.’

Mrs Slingo-Hutt and Dame Julia declined to comment.