Influential UK Report Urges More Government Support for Employee Ownership

The Ownership Dividend, a new report from an independent panel of leading business leaders in the UK, urges the government to take several steps to promote employee ownership, which it sees as crucial to improving the UK's economy and creating a more equitable society. The group was chaired by Baroness Sharon Bowles, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party. She is often described as the most influential Briton in the development of European Union policy and the most influential woman in politics in the UK.

Key proposals include greater outreach and education efforts, support for developing worker cooperatives, greater tax benefits for employee ownership trusts (somewhat like ESOPs in the U.S.), higher limits on deductibility in employee savings plans focused on company stock, support for mutuals converting to employee ownership (these are social service organizations typically owned by local governments), and regulatory changes.