Sir Andrew William Dilnot, (born 19 June 1960) is a British

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and broadcaster. He was director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies from 1991 to 2002, and principal of

St Hugh's College, Oxford St Hugh's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It is located on a site on St Margaret's Road, to the north of the city centre. It was founded in 1886 by Elizabeth Wordsworth as a ...

from 2002 to 2012, and Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford from 2012 to 2024. He served as Chair of the

UK Statistics Authority The UK Statistics Authority (UKSA, ) is a non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for oversight of the Office for National Statistics, maintaining a national code of practice for official statist ...

from April 2012 until March 2017.Chair of the Statistics Authority

Early life and education

Dilnot attended Olchfa School, Swansea, a state

comprehensive school A comprehensive school is a secondary school for pupils aged 11–16 or 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is restricted on the basis ...

. He also attended Maidstone Grammar School. He studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its foun ...

Career

Dilnot was director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies from 1991 to 2002. Dilnot was a presenter on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's programme about statistics '' More or Less''. Many of the items on the programme deal with the misuse and fabrication of statistics. Dilnot and Michael Blastland wrote '' The Tiger That Isn't'', which was based on ''More or Less''.The Tiger That Isn't pp. 1–5 (Introduction) Dilnot became principal of St Hugh's College in 2002, then the only head of house at an Oxford college educated at a comprehensive school. He became a Pro Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in 2005. On 16 March 2011, it was announced that "with very mixed emotions" Dilnot was to leave St Hugh's College in September 2012 to become warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, "which will allow me to spend much more time doing economics again." He retired in 2024. In 2011, the government nominated Dilnot to be Chair of the

. Parliament formally endorsed the appointment on 13 December 2011. Andrew Dilnot is no longer chair of the authority, having stood down in 2017. In 2019, Dilnot became chair of the Health Foundation's oversight board for th
REAL Centre
(formerly Health and Social Care Sustainability Research Centre), which was set up to help health and social care policymakers consider long-term implications of their funding, design and delivery decisions.

Commission on Funding of Care and Support

In June 2010, Dilnot was asked by the government to chair the Commission on Funding of Care and Support. He took a sabbatical from St Hugh's College from March to July 2011. The commission published its report in July 2011. The commission's primary recommendation was to limit individuals' contribution to social care costs to £35,000, after which the state would pay. Currently, individuals who do not fit means-tested criteria can be liable for unlimited costs. The commission's report was welcomed by Health Secretary Andrew Lansley, and both

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

and Ed Miliband called for cross-party talks on the issue.

Honours

Dilnot was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the 2000 Birthday Honours and knighted in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to Economics and Economic Policy. He is an Honorary Fellow of

Queen Mary University of London Queen Mary University of London (QMUL, or informally QM, and formerly Queen Mary and Westfield College) is a public university, public research university in Mile End, East London, England. It is a member institution of the federal University ...

, the Swansea Institute of Higher Education and the Institute of Actuaries, and holds honorary doctorates from City University and the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

Interests

Dilnot has taken up the

Northumbrian smallpipes The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from Northeastern England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of ...

as an adult learner.

References

External links

University of Sheffield
Knoop Lecture 2014 (video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Dilnot, Andrew 1960 births Living people British economists Principals of St Hugh's College, Oxford Fellows of St John's College, Oxford Pro-vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford British radio personalities British television presenters Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Academics of University College London Academics of the London School of Economics People associated with Queen Mary University of London Channel 4 people People educated at Olchfa School People educated at Maidstone Grammar School Wardens of Nuffield College, Oxford