About social value in procurement
The Procurement Act 2023 sets out the importance of social value.
It confirms the importance of:
- the public sector placing social value at the heart of procurement
- procurement deliver clear economic, social, and environmental benefits to communities
Social value is not an optional extra, it’s a central pillar of how we do business.
We recognise that every procurement decision is an opportunity to improve lives.
For us, social value means additional community benefits over and above core requirements. These:
- are realised through commissioning and procurement activities
- benefit and contribute to the wellbeing of individuals and communitis
Our ambition
Through our social value ambitions, we’ll:
- secure genuine, measurable social value outcomes in every contract we award
- increase access to procurement opportunities for local voluntary and community sector (VCS) organisations
- support further access to small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
- embed social value requirements throughout the supply chain
- ensure all contractors and sub-contractors play their part
- support inclusive economic growth of the borough
- emphasise social mobility and community wellbeing
By integrating social value into how we procure, we ensure public money works harder. It will deliver services for the long-term benefit of our communities.
What we’ll do
We’ll embed this principle into all aspects of our commissioning and procurement.
This means that our suppliers must contribute positively to the local area. Social value could include initiatives that:
- tackle poverty
- reduce unemployment
- build community resilience
- address inequality; or
- support vulnerable groups
Suppliers delivering services in a specific neighbourhood can focus their social value there.
We’ll refresh our Social Value Framework in September 2025. This will align procurement activity with Council priorities. It will provide clear direction on how social value should be:
- considered
- implemented
- evaluated
We’ll seek outcomes that meet the Council's strategic goals, ensuring we invest in what matters most to our residents.
With our partners and suppliers, we’ll build a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient borough, contract by contract.