Mark Upton Email & Phone Number

London, England, United Kingdom

Policy lead on decumulation, saver communications and engagement, pension transfers and scams.

Analysing political and policy developments, and explaining these to LGIU members. Focusing on children and family services, education, employment and skills. Recent examples include the impact on labour markets and on youth unemployment from the Covid-19 pandemic; devolution of adult further education; race disparities in education outcomes and a review of the Troubled Families Programme.

London, United Kingdom

London, England, United Kingdom

Advising on the policy and legislative options for restricting the trade and sale in animal food products successfully securing a legislative slot in the Queens Speech. Development of legislative strategy and policy, drafting of policy instruction for lawyers, overseeing impact assessments and drafting risk assessments including on World Trade Organisation matters.

London, United Kingdom

Shaw Trust Group (incorporating Shaw Trust, Prospects, Ixion and Shaw Education Trust).Advising on business growth, and actioning growth projects for our justice business, and in particular on future market opportunities including in probation and offender rehabilitation.

I led the group-wide public affairs function, reporting directly to the CEO, involving: - Helping to identify and address new market and long-term business growth opportunities.- Assisting the executive leadership team to understand the threats and opportunities arising from social, economic and political issues and trends and developing strategies to enable the company to respond to these.- Horizon scanning anticipating significant developments, providing insights on best practice, ensuring that different parts of the business were aware of their implications.- Building and maintaining key strategic relationships with Whitehall, Parliament, local government, industry bodies and think tanks.- Helping to raise the profile of the Company across our key markets including representing the company at external meetings and events and undertaking speaking engagements.- Production of public policy position statements including for select committee inquiries and responses to central and local government consultations.Key achievements:- Strengthening our public affairs capability by re-orienting our trade memberships and other partnerships, and actively managing these relationships, to secure greater value and impact.- Raising our profile by introducing a programme of ‘thought leadership’ events including presence at the political conferences.- Building and strengthening our relationships with local government including the new city-region mayoralty combined authorities and local enterprise partnerships.- Developing a new way by which the Company could describe and project itself onto its markets which was used in the design and content of a new suite of marketing tools.- A review of our regional business development function, identifying weaknesses and realistic actions to strengthen its structure and operation.

London, United Kingdom

Providing policy and public affairs advice and support to public, private and third sector organisations.

London, United Kingdom

The Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) is an award winning think tank and membership organisation. I was part of a team of policy experts providing policy analysis, learning and development, events and conferences, consultancy and other resources to LGIU members and other organisations. In my time at LGIU I focused on two areas:- Analysing political and policy developments, conveying and explaining these to LGIU members (local authority cabinet members, councillors and officers) through briefings, ‘essential guides’, blogs and articles on diverse subjects including housing and regeneration, public service reform, education and children’s services and local government finance and governance.- Intelligence services for example, horizon scanning ‘forward looks’ and specific pieces foreshadowing and reporting on key political events like the Queen’s Speech, the Budget, Spending Reviews and the General Election.

London, United Kingdom

A member of the corporate strategy team tasked to work flexibly across the organisation, challenge conventional thinking and bring project management disciplines to bear to priority projects. My main achievements included:- Leading a programme of intelligence gathering, policy analysis and dissemination activity helping the Department to prepare for the change of Government at the 2010 General Election.- Led the development of regeneration policy and funding options under the 2010 Spending Review leading to an over-billion pound settlement.- Scoping the implications of the Big Society agenda for the Department bringing forward proposals for governance and accountability for the programme.- A member of a multi-agency team assessing the implications of the 2011 health reforms on children and young people’s health outcomes in Peterborough.- Researched and developed options for levering in additional funding to increase the supply of council housing which informed the Government’s housing strategy.

London, United Kingdom

Policy lead on public service reform including commissioning, contestability and user choice: developing the policy narrative, objectives and evidence base; horizon scanning developments; stakeholder management; drafting guidance and policy papers; and representing the department at a variety of forums. Also wider inter-departmental liaison role for instance between DCLG and DCMS. My main achievements included:- Re-positioning policy towards the third sector, thereby securing that sector’s support for the 2006 Local Government White Paper. - Leading the development of a market based approach in local public services, informed by a co-authored review of the local government public services markets.- Leading the re-thinking of commissioning practice successfully re-positioning the policy as part of the place-making and Total Place agendas.

London, United Kingdom

Overseeing the delivery of two of the Government's targets on local government performance and its cost effectiveness. Putting in place an evidential framework supporting the repositioning the improvement and efficiency delivery chain.

London, United Kingdom

Providing programme management oversight for the £350m investment to encourage local government services to become electronically enabled. Overseeing the development and publication of a strategy within four months of appointment and, subsequently securing an additional £180m of investment.

London, United Kingdom

Policy lead on public-public and public-private partnerships. Securing legislative change to improve partnership working, conceived and established the Strategic Partnering Taskforce, co-authored PFI guidance for local government and commissioned the Byatt review into the state of local government procurement.

Part of the client-side for the High Speed One (Channel Tunnel Rail Link) project including stakeholder relationship management with local planning authorities.