Jon Sparkes

Who Jon Sparkes is

Jon Sparkes OBE is Chief Executive of Royal Mencap Society, the UK charity that supports people with a learning disability and campaigns for their equal rights in health, social care, and employment. He joined Mencap in June 2024, having previously served as Chief Executive of UNICEF UK (from January 2022), Chief Executive of homelessness charity Crisis (seven years), and Chief Executive of disability charity Scope (almost six years), with an earlier spell as Chief Operating Officer at UNICEF UK between 2012 and 2014. Before entering the charity sector, he worked as a human resources and organisational development director in an international technology business. He is publicly known for arguing that people with a learning disability die on average up to 23 years younger than the general population, and that NHS targets and annual health checks for this group must be protected.

References for this biography

1. 1.Royal Mencap Society announces Jon Sparkes OBE as its new Chief Executive | Mencap — Confirms appointment as CEO from June 2024, previous roles at UNICEF UK, Crisis UK and Scope, and LinkedIn profile URL
2. 2.Our executive team | Mencap — Confirms current role, prior CEO roles, earlier career in HR/OD in technology sector, and non-executive positions including SeeAbility, ACEVO, Centre for Homelessness Impact, and St Petrocs trustee
3. 3.Unicef chief to take top job at Mencap | Third Sector — Confirms seven years as CEO of Crisis and almost six years as CEO of Scope, plus COO role at UNICEF UK 2012–2014
4. 4.Mencap responds to Lord Darzi Review | Mencap — Establishes Sparkes as a panel member for the Darzi NHS review and documents his public positions on social care and health inequalities for people with a learning disability
5. 5.Mencap responds to reports that annual health checks for people with a learning disability are at risk | Mencap — Documents Sparkes publicly arguing to protect NHS annual health check targets for people with a learning disability
6. 6.Mencap responds to the government's consultation on the future of the NHS | Mencap — Documents Sparkes' public claim that people with a learning disability die on average up to 23 years younger than the general population
7. 7.ROYAL MENCAP SOCIETY overview – Companies House — Confirms registered office address: 6 Cyrus Way, Hampton, Peterborough, PE7 8HP
8. 8.Jon Sparkes: 'Lived experience is almost a prerequisite for some roles' | Civil Society — Confirms career background including HR director and CEO at Scope from 2004, management degree with equal opportunities specialism, and HR director role at Generics Group/Sagentia

Notable achievements

• Invited to give evidence to Lord Darzi's independent review of the NHS (September 2024) as a sector representative on social care and learning disability health inequalities. Source ↗
• Launched Mencap 2030, a new organisational strategy, in January 2026. Source ↗
• Previously held CEO roles at UNICEF UK, Crisis UK, and Scope before joining Mencap in 2024. Source ↗

What Jon Sparkes has said

• “As the NHS moves to prevent illness and treat people in the community, annual health checks are a clear example of what the NHS needs to do to support people with early intervention and tailored services that meet their needs.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Streeting urges GP practices to improve access for people with a learning disability ↗

• “Annual health checks and the learning disability register are vital tools in tackling unacceptable health inequalities.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Streeting calls on GPs to step up identification of people with a learning disability ↗

• “People with a learning disability and their families deserve better. In this day and age, no one should die early because they don't get the right treatment.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · People with learning disabilities are dying 20 years early, report finds: 'They deserve better' ↗

• “We know that 86% of people with a learning disability are not in work, want a paid job, but there are currently too few inclusive roles and training opportunities to support them into employment. Change is urgently needed for people with a learning disability to access simple adjustments – such as more accessible communication or on the job support to help them get bedded into a role.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Only 5% of people with learning disabilities in employment, finds landmark Mayfield review ↗

• “It's unacceptable that late diagnosis and lack of urgent referral for treatment is costing people with a learning disability years of life.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Cancer diagnoses "too late" for people with learning disabilities ↗

• “It's deeply worrying the 2023 report was significantly delayed, then published with serious errors and withdrawn. This is deeply upsetting for families impacted and must not happen again.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Campaigners upset over errors in learning disability deaths report ↗

• “The government's decision to uprate the minimum income guarantee for working-age disabled adults accessing social care by 7% is good news. We are pleased that ministers have listened to people with a learning disability about how social care charging impacts upon their household costs and overall wellbeing.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · £400 cash boost for disabled adults to tackle cost of living ↗

• “Increasing benefit assessors' understanding of learning disability is an important step towards a more accessible and inclusive benefits system. The training they've received has the potential to make a real difference in helping them to communicate more clearly, recognise individual needs and make reasonable adjustments.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · DWP puts disabled people first: Thousands of health staff complete landmark autism and learning disabilities training ↗

• “This is literally a matter of life and death, and risks undoing years of hard-won progress. We urgently need to know how the government will maintain independent scrutiny and, importantly, understand and tackle the causes of avoidable deaths.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Over half of adults with learning disabilities do not live past 65, report says ↗

• “This annual report is an important moment for transparency and learning, but it comes at a time of real uncertainty about the future of the LeDeR programme. We urgently need to know how the government will maintain independent scrutiny and, importantly, understand and tackle the causes of avoidable deaths.”

  Chief executive of learning disability charity Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Focus on epilepsy specialist nurses and vaccination efforts needed, says learning disability review ↗

• “This is welcome relief for disabled people struggling with the cost of living as well as the extra costs of being disabled. Most importantly though it removes the inference that disabled people can't or shouldn't work.”

  CEO of Mencap, the learning disability charity · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Free bus travel 24/7 for disabled people as Prime Minister takes further action to ease cost of living ↗

• “Much more must be done to ensure people with the most complex needs can access care. Organisational failings were identified in more than 40% of deaths reviewed last year, showing the way the NHS just isn't designed to work for people with a learning disability.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · People with severe intellectual disabilities live 24 years less on average ↗

• “This is very welcome news. Young people with a learning disability are disproportionately likely to be out of work and not in education, employment or training. Earlier access to paid work, tailored support and mentoring could help prevent them from becoming trapped in long-term unemployment.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Thousands of young disabled people to be offered guaranteed jobs ↗

• “We welcome the government taking action to clear the Access to Work backlog. Payment delays are putting enormous pressure on disabled people who rely on this vital support to get into and stay in work, as well as charities like Mencap who employ and support them.”

  Chief Executive of learning disability charity Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 30 Sept 2026 · Huge recruitment boost to tackle backlog in vital disability work scheme ↗

• “For too many people with a learning disability and their families, not being listened to can have devastating consequences. That's why extending Martha's Rule to A&Es is so important. It helps shift the culture of healthcare so that every concern about a patient and their care is addressed, helping to ensure serious conditions are diagnosed and treated as early as possible.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 29 Sept 2026 · Martha’s rule: Families of people with a learning disability can now escalate concerns in A&E ↗

• “Eighty years after Judy Fryd brought families together to demand better, we've seen extraordinary progress. But we cannot accept a world where reaching 80 is still remarkable for someone with a learning disability.”

  chief executive of Mencap · Learning disability & autism · 29 Sept 2026 · New pictures of Duchess Sophie released as she attends London event close to her heart ↗

• “Learning-disability nurses are too often the only people making sure someone is properly heard, understood and supported in healthcare settings. But far too many people are going without that support when they need it most, because services are overstretched, unavailable at key times, or simply don't have enough specialist nurses.”

  Chief Executive, Mencap · Hospital discharge / bed-blocking · 27 Aug 2026 · Lack of learning-disability nurses in UK is an ‘absolute crisis’, says union ↗

• “The true legacy of this inquiry will not be measured by the publication of a report but by the actions that follow. People's experiences inside Muckamore must never be forgotten and the harms they experienced must never be repeated.”

  Chief Executive of Mencap · Adult social care & reform · 27 Aug 2026 · ‘Mistreatment became normality’ at Muckamore Abbey hospital, inquiry finds ↗

Where Jon Sparkes has been quoted

1. Hampshire nurse runs London marathon for Mencapdailyecho.co.uk · 4 Oct 2026
2. Streeting urges GP practices to improve access for people with a learning disabilitynursinginpractice.com · 30 Sept 2026
3. Streeting calls on GPs to step up identification of people with a learning disabilitygponline.com · 30 Sept 2026
4. People with learning disabilities are dying 20 years early, report finds: 'They deserve better'bigissue.com · 30 Sept 2026
5. Only 5% of people with learning disabilities in employment, finds landmark Mayfield reviewlearningdisabilitytoday.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
6. Cancer diagnoses "too late" for people with learning disabilitiesbbc.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
7. Campaigners upset over errors in learning disability deaths reportbbc.com · 30 Sept 2026
8. £400 cash boost for disabled adults to tackle cost of livinggov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
9. DWP puts disabled people first: Thousands of health staff complete landmark autism and learning disabilities traininggov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
10. Over half of adults with learning disabilities do not live past 65, report saysbbc.co.uk · 30 Sept 2026
11. Focus on epilepsy specialist nurses and vaccination efforts needed, says learning disability reviewnursinginpractice.com · 30 Sept 2026
12. Free bus travel 24/7 for disabled people as Prime Minister takes further action to ease cost of livinggov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
13. People with severe intellectual disabilities live 24 years less on averagetheguardian.com · 30 Sept 2026
14. Thousands of young disabled people to be offered guaranteed jobsgov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
15. Huge recruitment boost to tackle backlog in vital disability work schemegov.uk · 30 Sept 2026
16. Martha’s rule: Families of people with a learning disability can now escalate concerns in A&Elearningdisabilitytoday.co.uk · 29 Sept 2026
17. New pictures of Duchess Sophie released as she attends London event close to her heartaol.co.uk · 29 Sept 2026
18. Lack of learning-disability nurses in UK is an ‘absolute crisis’, says uniontheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026
19. ‘Mistreatment became normality’ at Muckamore Abbey hospital, inquiry findstheguardian.com · 27 Aug 2026

Related media coverage

Recent UK press coverage of their topics — not necessarily citing them directly.

• Leaders in Care Awards 2026 | Lifetime Achievement: Care Homes winner revealedHome Care Insight
• GP architect of neighbourhood health reforms to leave NHS EnglandPulse Today
• An important step forward in ending corridor care - Colin Poolman | Blog | RCN ScotlandRoyal College of Nursing

Contact & links

• LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jon-sparkes-obe-526b1847published here ↗
• Staff pagehttps://www.mencap.org.uk/about-us/leadership/our-executive-team
• Press office phone02076965414published here ↗

Organisational contact points only, each taken from a page the organisation publishes itself. No personal or direct contact details are held or shown.