Whose Capital?: The case for building democratic accountability into Britain’s pension system

Over recent decades, economic power in the UK has shifted away from democratic institutions and towards markets, corporations and financial actors. Governments remain accountable for economic outcomes, yet many of the decisions that shape wages, housing, public health, environmental resilience and long-term growth now sit elsewhere. This growing distance between economic power and democratic accountability creates fertile ground for populism.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the pensions system. Through the 2008 Pensions Act, parliament required employers to enrol eligible workers into workplace pension schemes – creating one of the largest systems of citizen-owned capital in the world. Yet the governance of pension capital has not evolved alongside its growing scale and influence. Pension savers increasingly bear the risks of investment and live with the consequences of decisions made with their money, while having little say over how that capital is governed or put to work.

Featuring a foreword from Liam Byrne MP, this report sees Catherine Howarth make the case for stronger member representation and greater transparency across the pensions system. She sets out proposals for rebuilding trust in pension institutions and ensuring that the people whose savings create this extraordinary pool of capital have a meaningful voice in how it is governed.