Nick Hartley obituary

Nick Hartley, who has died aged 80, was a respected economist and in the 1990s served as head of energy, economics and statistics at the Department of Trade and Industry.

His reputation was made as chief economist at Oftel (the Office of Telecommunications) for six years from 1984. He was then chief economist at the Department of the Environment (1990-94), before becoming head of energy, economics and statistics at the DTI, a post, he liked to point out, once held by Harold Wilson. In 1996, Nick joined the economic consultancy Oxera, from where he was seconded to the Cabinet Office to head up a report on energy policy.