Interview: The grand agitator
Nancy Rowntree
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Julian Le Grand, professor of social policy, London School of Economics.
Julian Le Grand has come a long way since being tear-gassed on the streets of Chicago on an anti-Vietnam war march.
His involvement with the anti-Vietnam war movement, which took in various parts of the United States, taught Le Grand about what he describes as "the power, but also the dangers", of government.
Nowadays a professor of social policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, he juggles high-flying academia with influencing the political agenda, previously acting as Tony Blair's senior policy adviser and now as chair of ministerial advisory board Health England.
In recent months Le Grand has ruffled more than a few feathers in the children's services sector for his controversial proposal to introduce social work practices, which would operate in a similar way to GP practices.
The idea is to be piloted and forms part of the Children and Young Person's Bill, which is currently going through Parliament (CYP Now, 9-15 January 2008).
Despite the furore from certain quarters, Le Grand stands firmly by his idea. "A lot of people object, some people approve, although there's actually very little evidence either way," he says. "But we felt there was enough theory and practice to suggest this was an experiment worth trying."
He has also proposed the idea of giving schools an incentive to take looked-after children. "At the moment there is a sort of compulsion, and compulsion is never a good idea in social policy," he says. "It just creates resentment. Having a premium attached to looked-after children would give schools the resources they need to work with them."
Coming from an economics background, Le Grand says he has always had a strong commitment to public services and the people who use and work in them. "I was never interested in the things that economists are traditionally interested in, like stock markets or national trade," he says. "But I have always been interested in public services."
Le Grand began to develop his ideas, often described as radical, during his university days in the 1960s and 70s. A first class degree at Sussex, a place he describes as a "hotbed of fashion", was followed by a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, where he says he developed his own "personal radicalism".
"Ever since my time in the States I have been an egalitarian," he says. "But although I am on the centre left I also believe in things like markets which I think can help promote a more equitable and fairer society."
A card-carrying member of the Labour Party for almost 40 years, Le Grand welcomes the government's move towards increasing choice and competition, like parental choice when it comes to schools.
"I think the end result will get people a much better service, partly because parents will be able to choose schools or healthcare that is better suited to their child but also because of the incentives it gives. If a school or GP practice knows children can go elsewhere, that gives a strong incentive to raise their game. There's lots of evidence from other countries that more choice leads to a more efficient and fairer system"
But he has reservations about the move towards integrated children's services. "I am not happy about the idea of putting social care and education together. The chief concern in education is to improve average levels of education and schools are very focused on that."
Le Grand warns: "There's a danger that you miss the people who really need the help if you just bung it all together."
BACKGROUND - A career in academia and politics
- Julian Le Grand was awarded a BA in Economics at the University of Sussex in 1967 and a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania in 1972
- He has held teaching posts in universities in both Britain and the United States
- Le Grand has been the professor of social policy at the London School of Economics since 1993
- From 2003 to 2005 he was senior policy adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair
- He chaired the working group on social work practices and is chairman of Health England
- He was one of Prospect magazine's 100 top British public intellectuals
- He is the author of 17 books and more than 90 articles on economics, philosophy and public policy.