Zooker refers to many younger nats managers having little or no atc experience and I would also add little or no knowledge of commercial aviation. The issuing of met actuals is not an ancillary task that can be postponed or ignored due to workload, it is a fundamental cornerstone of the safe operation of any aircraft, whether that be commercial, private, military, large or small.
Aircrew use the information supplied by metar to compile their approach minima and briefings and particularly in marginal conditions it is the most important factor. If I were faced with conducting an approach in minimal conditions with a met observation which was out of date I would refuse and enter the hold until one had been done and then go into print about it.
We all know that as far as the management are concerned it is about reducing staff costs, but if the atcos think that they can take on this task without it affecting their primary role then they really are as naive as members of their management.