Kate Barker

Dame Kate Barker DBE FAcSS
Member of the Monetary Policy Committee
In office June 2001 – May 2010
Governor	Sir Edward George (2001-2003), Mervyn King (2003-present)
Personal details
Born	Katharine Mary Barker 1957 (age 59–60)
Alma mater	St Hilda's College, Oxford
Profession	Economist, academic

Dame Katharine Mary Barker DBE FAcSS (born 1957), generally known as Kate Barker, is a British economist. She is principally noted for her roles at the Bank of England and for advising the British government on social issues such as housing and health care.

Barker grew up in Stoke-on-Trent. She received a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Hilda's College, Oxford, in 1979 and worked for a large pension fund in London. She was a Research Officer at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (1981–85) and was then the Chief European Economist at the Ford Motor Company in Brentwood (1985–94). From 1994-2001 she was Chief Economic Adviser at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). She was also a member of the HM Treasury's Panel of Independent Economic Advisers 1996-97; and a non-executive Director of the Yorkshire Building Society (1999-April 2001).

Barker was appointed as an external member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England with effect from 1 June 2001. The MPC is responsible for setting interest rates to meet the Government's inflation target. She is the first external MPC member to have been appointed for three terms, the latest of which ended on 31 May 2010. She was not eligible for a fourth term.

Barker was appointed by the Government in April 2003 to conduct an independent Review of UK Housing Supply; leading to a final report in March 2004. The Government’s full response to this review was published in December 2005. In October 2005 she was appointed a Board Member of the Housing Corporation, and from 2008 to 2011 of one of its successor bodies, the Homes and Communities Agency. In December 2005, she was asked to conduct an independent Review of Land Use Planning, and she reported on 5 December 2006. From 2010 to May 2015 she was Chair of the Northern Ireland Economic Advisory Group. She was appointed as one of two non-executive members of the UK government's Office for Budget Responsibility in June 2011.

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