SIR DENIS BARNES

Sir Denis Barnes, perma - nent secretary at the De - partment of Employment from 1968 to 1973 and first chairman of the Man - power Services Commis - sion from 1974 to 1976, died on May 6 aged 77 He was born on December 15, 1914. DENIS Barnes became "Mr Manpower" when the short - lived Manpower Services Commission was created by the Conservative government late in 1973 as one of the measures aimed at curing un - employment . He had long had a reputation for being an "ideas man" and as the com - mission ' s first chairman it was his task to develop poli - cies and services to enable the country's manpower re - sources to be properly uti - lised . The commission, hived off from the Department of Employment, was responsi - ble for the government's job creation, training and job - pla cement activities. Al -

though he was previously permanent secretary of the Department of Employment, Barnes built the commission into a politically powerful o r g - anisation with a will and, effectively, a £300 million budget of its own. His inde - pe n de n t approach led to tense relations with the em - ployment secretary, Michael Foot, and ruffled some feath - ers at the Department of Em - ployme n t where some resented what they regarded as the commission's "empire building" strategy . Barnes threw himself into the challenge with an unin - hibited enthusiasm born partly from a sense of release from the restraints of the civil service. The commission's membership included repre sentatives of trade unions