Sir Leo Pliatzky (22 August 1919 – 4 May 1999) was an English civil servant whose career spanned 1947–77, 27 of those years in

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

. He served as Joint Permanent Secretary to the Department of Trade and Industry in 1967–77.

Early life and education

Pliatzky was born at 44 Regent Road in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, the second son of Jewish emigrants Nathan Pliatzky, a shopkeeper and clothier from

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, and Rose Rebecca Portnoy, from Latvia. He grew up in Manchester, where he was an outstanding scholar at

Manchester Grammar School The Manchester Grammar School (MGS) in Manchester, England, is the largest independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1515 as a Grammar school#free tuition, free grammar school next to Manchester C ...

, until the 1930s, when his parents, struggling financially in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, moved to

Bow, London Bow () is an area of East London within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is primarily a built-up and mostly residential area and is east of Charing Cross. It was in the traditional county of Middlesex but became part of the County of ...

. Rising anti-Semitism stoked by British fascists like

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

led to his parents changing their surname to Green, but young Leo refused.

Harold Laski Harold Joseph Laski (30 June 1893 – 24 March 1950) was an English political theorist and economist. He was active in politics and served as the chairman of the British Labour Party from 1945 to 1946 and was a professor at the London School of ...

, an alumnus of Manchester Grammar School who was a rising figure in the Labour Party, knew of Leo Pliatzky's academic potential and paid for him to attend the

City of London School , established = , closed = , type = Public school Boys' independent day school , president = , head_label = Headmaster , head = Alan Bird , chair_label = Chair of Governors , chair = Ian Seaton , founder = John Carpenter , speciali ...

. In 1937, he earned an open scholarship to

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, where he was active in the

Oxford University Labour Club Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) was founded in 1919 to promote democratic socialism and is today the home of the Labour Party and of social democracy at Oxford University. OULC is the largest and oldest university Labour club in the count ...

and took first-class honours in classical moderations in 1939. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he served in North Africa and Italy with the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

and the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

, where he was mentioned in despatches and promoted to lieutenant. In 1945–46, he returned to Oxford and took another degree in philosophy, politics and economics, again with first-class honours.

Career

Following the war, Pliatzky worked briefly as research secretary with the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. The Fa ...

before beginning his career in the civil service. He first served in the

Ministry of Food An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

(1947–50) before joining

. In 1953, he was transferred to the overseas finance division and spent the next 13 years dealt with "uncertain balance of payments amid competing calls on Britain's resources diminished by war and strained by a nascent welfare state, the ending of empire, and the cold war." Pliatzky established strong personal relations with the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

and other international financial institutions. He served as Undersecretary (1967–71), Deputy Secretary (1971–76), and then Second Secretary (1976–77), and served as Joint Permanent Secretary to the Department of Trade and Industry (1976–77). According to

Joel Barnett Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett, (14 October 1923 – 1 November 2014) was a Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the late 1970s, he devised the Barnett Formula that allocates public spending in Scotland, ...

Chief Secretary to the Treasury The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burden ...

from 1974–79, "Sir Leo was a

Keynesian Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output and ...

who believed that the division of labour worked out at the centre of Whitehall in the 1950s was as close to administrative perfection as we are likely to get." Pliatzky was known for his honest and forthright approach, which could be seen as abrasive. "He spoke his mind freely, whether to ministers, fellow senior officials, junior officials, businessmen, industrialists, indeed anyone with whom he had discussions," Barnett said.

Honours

Pliatzky was appointed a Companion of the

Order of the Bath The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I of Great Britain, George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate medieval ceremony for appointing a knight, which involved Bathing#Medieval ...

(CB) in 1972 and knighted in the same order (KCB) in 1977.

Personal life

In 1948, he married Marian Jean Elias (died 1979), whom he met at Oxford after the war. They had one son and one daughter. He died in

Congresbury Congresbury is a village and civil parish on the northwestern slopes of the Mendip Hills in North Somerset, England, which in 2011 had a population of 3,497. It lies on the A370 between Junction 21 of the M5 and Bristol Airport, south of Bris ...

, Somerset, in 1999, aged 79.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pliatzky, Leo 1919 births 1999 deaths People from Salford English Jews British people of Latvian-Jewish descent British people of Russian-Jewish descent People educated at Manchester Grammar School People educated at the City of London School Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford British Army personnel of World War II Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers 20th-century British civil servants Civil servants in HM Treasury Civil servants in the Ministry of Food Second Permanent Secretaries of HM Treasury Permanent Under-Secretaries of State for Trade and Industry Knights Commander of the Order of the Bath Royal Army Ordnance Corps soldiers