Kenneth Jackson Davey

OBE 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 ...

(7 December 1932 – 19 February 2021) was Emeritus Professor at the International Development Department,

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

and former Senior Adviser to the Local Government and Public Service reform Initiative of the

Open Society Foundations Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the s ...

Early life

Davey was born in

Leigh-on-Sea Leigh-on-Sea (), commonly referred to simply as Leigh, is a List of towns in England, town and civil parish within the city of Southend-on-Sea, located in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. In 2011 it had a population of 22,509. Geograph ...

, Essex and attended

Silcoates School Silcoates School is a co-educational independent school in the village of Wrenthorpe near Wakefield, England. History The school was founded in 1820 as the Northern Congregational School at Silcoates House, for the board and education of the son ...

, near Wakefield. He studied History at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, from 1951 to 1954, graduating with an MA (Oxon). Between 1954 and 1956, he did

national service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in Cyprus with the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, taking part in undercover operations during the

Cyprus Emergency The Cyprus Emergency was a conflict fought in British Cyprus between April 1955 and March 1959. The National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters (EOKA), a Greek Cypriot right-wing nationalist guerrilla organisation, began an armed campaign in s ...

Local government specialist

After his military service, Davey joined the

Colonial Service The Colonial Service, also known as His/Her Majesty's Colonial Service and replaced in 1954 by Her Majesty's Overseas Civil Service (HMOCS), was the British government service that administered most of Britain's overseas possessions, under the aut ...

. He was posted to Uganda in 1956, serving as a District Officer and Magistrate in

Toro District Toro District is one of eleven districts of the province La Unión in Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the sou ...

. He then had stints in

Bunyoro Bunyoro, also called Bunyoro-Kitara, is a traditional Bantu kingdom in Western Uganda. It was one of the most powerful kingdoms in Central and East Africa from the 16th century to the 19th century. It is ruled by the King ('' Omukama'') of ...

Masindi Masindi is a town in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. It is on the road between Kampala and the Murchison Falls National Park. It is the site of the headquarters of the Masindi District. Location Masindi is approximately ...

and

Mbale Mbale is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Mbale District and the surrounding sub-region. Location Mbale is approximately northeast of Kampala, Uganda's capital city, on ...

. In 1962, he was posted to the Ministry of Local Government in

Kampala Kampala (, ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,875,834 (2024) and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kampala, Kawempe Division, Kawempe, Makindy ...

, before in 1964 becoming Senior Courts Advisor at the Ministry of Justice. His final Colonial Service posting was as Chief Regional Inspector, Ministry of Local Government, Kampala, from 1966, where he was responsible for local government finance reform. In 1969, he joined the Institute of Local Government Studies at the University of Birmingham. In his years as a specialist in local government, notably local finance, Davey worked for HM Overseas Civil Service, the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, the

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

(DFID),

United Nations Human Settlements Programme The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) is the United Nations programme for human settlements and sustainable urban development. It was established in 1977 as an outcome of the first United Nations Conference on Human Settle ...

(UNCHS), the Council of Europe and

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU). His work in latter years focused particularly on assistance to local government reform in Central and Eastern Europe, and he was director of research into the institutional framework of urban management. Between 1972-2008, he carried out consultancies on intergovernmental fiscal relations and public administration reform for the Council of Europe, DFID, EU, UNCHS,

United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

, World Bank and other agencies in Bangladesh, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Turkey and Uganda.

University of Birmingham

From 1969–2000, he taught at the School of Public Policy at the University of Birmingham. His posts included Professor of Development Administration (1981–2000), Director, Institute of Local Government Studies (1983–88) and Head of School (1988–89).

2008 financial crisis

Davey led a group of European experts examining the effects of the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

at the local level. This work was carried out by the European Committee on Local and Regional Democracy (CDLR) at the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

, in co-operation with the Open Society Foundation. The group's experts included

Paul Bernd Spahn Paul Bernd Spahn (17 October 1939 – 30 May 2025) was professor of public finance at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Biography Born in Darmstadt, Spahn studied economics at the universities of Frankfurt, Paris (Sorbonne) and Rio de Janeiro and ...

and Gabor Peteri.

Personal life

Davey married Beryl Herbert in 1962. The couple had three children together: Guy, Julian and Stephanie. He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and awarded the OBE in 1997. He was also awarded the Officer’s Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary The Hungarian Order of Merit () is the fourth highest Order (honour), State Order of Hungary. Founded in 1991, the order is a revival of an original order founded in 1946 and abolished in 1949. Its origins, however, can be traced to the Order of ...

in 1998.

Publications

As editor: * The Impact of the Economic Downturn on Local Government in Europe, report to the Council of Europe Inter-ministerial Conference at Utrecht, 2009 and Strasbourg, 2010 * Investing in Regional Development: Policies and Practices in EU Candidate Countries (Open Society Institute, 2003) * Fiscal Autonomy and Efficiency: Reforms in the Former Soviet Union (Open Society Institute, 2002) * Balancing National and Local Responsibilities: Education Management and Finance in Four Central European Countries (Open Society Institute, 2002) * Local Government Finances: Options for Reform (Local Government Know-How Programme 1998), with Gabor Peteri As author: * Urban Management: the Challenge of Growth (Avebury 1997) * Elements of Urban Management (World Bank, 1993) * Readings and Case Studies in Urban Finance (UN Centre for Human Settlements - 1988) * Financing Regional Government (John Wiley, 1983) * (Participation and Basic Needs (I.L.O. 1978), with D M E Curtis, A Hughes and A W Shepherd * Taxing a Peasant Society (Charles Knight, 1974)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davey, Kenneth 1932 births 2021 deaths Academics of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the University of Oxford Officers of the Order of the British Empire Officer's Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Alumni of Merton College, Oxford