Kate Barker

Dame Katharine Mary Barker
Born	1957 Stoke-on-Trent, England
Occupation(s)	Economist, public policy advisor
Years active	1981–present
Known for	Member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee; Chair of independent reviews on UK housing and land use planning; advisory roles in UK government and financial institutions

Dame Katharine Mary Barker (born 1957) is a distinguished British economist renowned for her influential work with the Bank of England and her advisory roles to the UK government on matters related to housing and healthcare.

Early career

Raised in Stoke-on-Trent, Barker completed her degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Hilda's College, Oxford in 1979. Her early professional experience includes working for a leading pension fund in London, followed by a position as a research officer at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research from 1981 to 1985. She then served as chief European economist at the Ford Motor Company in Brentwood between 1985 and 1994. From 1994 until 2001, Barker was the chief economic adviser at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). Additionally, she contributed to HM Treasury's Panel of Independent Economic Advisers during 1996–97 and held a non-executive directorship at the Yorkshire Building Society from 1999 to 2001.

In June 2001, Barker was appointed as an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, where she played a key role in setting interest rates aimed at achieving government inflation targets. Notably, she remains the only external MPC member to have been appointed for three consecutive terms, completing her service in May 2010.

Housing, social care and other policy work

In April 2003, Barker was tasked by the government to head an independent Review of UK Housing Supply, culminating in a final report published in March 2004. The government issued its comprehensive response in December 2005. Following this, she joined the board of the Housing Corporation in 2005 and continued with its successor body, the Homes and Communities Agency, from 2008 through 2011.

She also led an independent Review of Land Use Planning, presenting her findings in December 2006. Between 2010 and 2015, Barker chaired the Northern Ireland Economic Advisory Group and held a non-executive membership on the UK government's Office for Budget Responsibility from 2011 to 2017.

Acknowledged for her significant impact on social housing with a CBE award in 2006, Barker was elevated to Dame Commander (DBE) status in 2014 for her services to the economy. She is recognized as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.

Her publication Housing: Where's the Plan was released by London Publishing Partnership in September 2014.

In the same year, she chaired a commission focused on the Future of Health and Social Care in England for the King's Fund, delivering its concluding report that September. Moreover, she oversaw a quality review of National Accounts for the Office for National Statistics during 2014.

Board memberships and other posts

Barker held a non-executive director position at Yorkshire Building Society from 2010 to 2017 and acted as a senior adviser to Credit Suisse between 2010 and 2016. She also served as a non-executive director at Electra Private Equity plc from 2010 until June 2016, assuming interim chairmanship from November 2015.

In March 2014, Barker became a member of the Fiscal Policy Panel for the States of Jersey, advancing to chairman in April 2016. Since October 2012, she has chaired the advisory board of the Centre for Business Research at Cambridge Judge Business School. From 2000 to 2010, she was governor and chair of governors at Anglia Ruskin University, which conferred upon her an honorary doctorate in 2011.

She led the Society of Business Economists as chair from 2013 to 2016 and has been involved as a trustee with the Essex Community Foundation. In September 2014, Barker took on the role of chairman for the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme trustees.

Her tenure as a non-executive director at Taylor Wimpey plc spanned from April 2011 until July 2020. She joined Man Group plc’s board in April 2017. Barker also contributed to the National Infrastructure Commission between April 2017 and March 2020 and served on Oxford University’s council from July 2017 through April 2020.

Appointed commissioner to the UK Cabinet Office's Geospatial Commission in July 2019, Barker has been a trustee of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) since April 2020, ascending to chairman in September that year.

Formerly an independent member of the Football Regulatory Authority under the Football Association, Barker is known as a supporter of Stoke City F.C..