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| Sir David Hancock obituary | Sir David Hancock obituary |
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| Sir David Hancock, who has died aged 79, was described in Nigel Lawson's memoirs as "very much the mandarin's mandarin". When Lawson became chancellor in 1983, Hancock – who had spent most of his working life at the Treasury, rising to deputy secretary before moving to the Cabinet Office in 1982 – seemed the obvious successor to Sir Douglas Wass as permanent secretary. Wass himself was said to favour him, as did most other Treasury officials. | Sir David Hancock, who has died aged 79, was described in Nigel Lawson's memoirs as "very much the mandarin's mandarin". When Lawson became chancellor in 1983, Hancock – who had spent most of his working life at the Treasury, rising to deputy secretary before moving to the Cabinet Office in 1982 – seemed the obvious successor to Sir Douglas Wass as permanent secretary. Wass himself was said to favour him, as did most other Treasury officials. |
| He did not get the job because Margaret Thatcher "didn't want me in an economic department". In an interview many years later for a PhD thesis by Brian Sherratt, a former headteacher, he said: "She thought I wasn't 'one of us', and I can't complain because I wasn't. Her views were far to the right of mine on economic policy." He was offered second permanent secretary at the Treasury but opted instead for the top job at the education department, then regarded as the Whitehall equivalent of Siberia, a strange and alien land where dragons might be found. There, under Sir Keith Joseph, he helped to bring the GCSE to fruition after many years of planning. | |
| Later, when Kenneth Baker succeeded Joseph as secretary of state, Hancock piloted on to the statute book the Education Reform Act 1988, the most important educational legislation since 1944. Partly because of the opposition it encountered, and the need for numerous amendments, the legislation was complex but, thanks largely to Hancock, it was well drafted and, in its own terms, stood the test of time. | Later, when Kenneth Baker succeeded Joseph as secretary of state, Hancock piloted on to the statute book the Education Reform Act 1988, the most important educational legislation since 1944. Partly because of the opposition it encountered, and the need for numerous amendments, the legislation was complex but, thanks largely to Hancock, it was well drafted and, in its own terms, stood the test of time. |
| He and Baker were not natural bedfellows. Intellectually, Hancock was more attuned to the cerebral Joseph. Baker found him distant and initially felt Hancock was more interested in universities than schools. The latter were the province of the department's "native" officials, who normally left local education authorities to their own devices and merely issued guidance. But Hancock shared Baker's view that the department should play a more active role and supported the then revolutionary proposal for a national curriculum. He also thought schools should manage their own budgets rather than having all financial decisions made for them by council officers. However, he believed that it was a step too far for schools to break entirely free of council control and opt for direct funding from Whitehall, as the 1988 Act would allow. He saw this as a sop to Tory rightwingers who disliked anything to do with local authorities. | He and Baker were not natural bedfellows. Intellectually, Hancock was more attuned to the cerebral Joseph. Baker found him distant and initially felt Hancock was more interested in universities than schools. The latter were the province of the department's "native" officials, who normally left local education authorities to their own devices and merely issued guidance. But Hancock shared Baker's view that the department should play a more active role and supported the then revolutionary proposal for a national curriculum. He also thought schools should manage their own budgets rather than having all financial decisions made for them by council officers. However, he believed that it was a step too far for schools to break entirely free of council control and opt for direct funding from Whitehall, as the 1988 Act would allow. He saw this as a sop to Tory rightwingers who disliked anything to do with local authorities. |
| Whatever Hancock's personal views, – and he was discreet about them – he rallied a suspicious department behind Baker's ambitious programme. "He was very reliable," Baker said. "He delivered. I never had to worry about the department's support." Hancock played a particularly important role in the introduction of training days for teachers, known as "Baker days". | |
| It was not only in schools that he guided the department to a more interventionist role. In 1986, he asked the accountants Price Waterhouse to report on the finances of the heavily indebted University College Cardiff. Until then, the Universities Grants Committee had prevented governments from interfering directly in any individual university. Later, Hancock told the college it would receive no more public money unless it accepted external teams to put its house in order. | It was not only in schools that he guided the department to a more interventionist role. In 1986, he asked the accountants Price Waterhouse to report on the finances of the heavily indebted University College Cardiff. Until then, the Universities Grants Committee had prevented governments from interfering directly in any individual university. Later, Hancock told the college it would receive no more public money unless it accepted external teams to put its house in order. |
| He could also be firm with ministers and special advisers. When Baker demanded a helicopter to fly to Bristol after animal-rights activists bombed the university, Hancock told him he would have to go by car. When a young and over-confident ministerial aide proclaimed that great thinkers never emerged from universities, quoting Marx as an example, Hancock circulated a note pointing out that Marx studied at universities in Bonn and Berlin. "He was never a creep," Baker told Sherratt. | He could also be firm with ministers and special advisers. When Baker demanded a helicopter to fly to Bristol after animal-rights activists bombed the university, Hancock told him he would have to go by car. When a young and over-confident ministerial aide proclaimed that great thinkers never emerged from universities, quoting Marx as an example, Hancock circulated a note pointing out that Marx studied at universities in Bonn and Berlin. "He was never a creep," Baker told Sherratt. |
| Hancock came from a modest background in Beckenham, Kent, and attended the independent Whitgift school, Croydon. After national service in the Royal Tank Regiment, he took a first in PPE (philosophy, politics and economics) at Balliol College, Oxford. After graduation, he went into the civil service, where he spent two years at the Board of Trade before moving to the Treasury in 1959. | Hancock came from a modest background in Beckenham, Kent, and attended the independent Whitgift school, Croydon. After national service in the Royal Tank Regiment, he took a first in PPE (philosophy, politics and economics) at Balliol College, Oxford. After graduation, he went into the civil service, where he spent two years at the Board of Trade before moving to the Treasury in 1959. |
| He moved smoothly up the hierarchy, working as private secretary to Roy Jenkins, chancellor from 1968 to 1970, and later, as an undersecretary in 1979, writing a paper that persuaded Geoffrey Howe, the incoming Tory chancellor, to lift exchange controls. In the early 1980s, he supervised European budget negotiations, a role that required him to accompany Thatcher to meet other European leaders. Though he did not achieve everything she wanted in keeping European hands off what she called "our money", their relationship developed into one of mutual respect. | |
| With the Education Reform Act safely concluded, – and, according to one colleague, tired of being pressed to sack people who did not conform to the prevailing political ideology – Hancock left the education department in 1989 to begin a second career in investment banking, initially as a director of Hambros Bank. | |
| His wide cultural and leisure interests included cricket, music and theatre. He was a member of the National Theatre board for several years and chaired the Foundation for Young Musicians throughout the 1990s. He donated a grand piano to the education department's music society. | |
| Hancock was knighted in 1985. He is survived by his wife, Gill, whom he married in 1966, and by a son and daughter. | Hancock was knighted in 1985. He is survived by his wife, Gill, whom he married in 1966, and by a son and daughter. |
| • David Hancock, civil servant and investment banker, born 27 March 1934; died 5 September 2013 | • David Hancock, civil servant and investment banker, born 27 March 1934; died 5 September 2013 |
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