Social value ‘too difuse’ in construction, report warns

There is a ‘high risk of social value becoming too diffuse and lacking focus’ in construction unless urgent action is taken, according to a new report.

The report – From the Ground Up – Improving the Delivery of Social Value in Construction – by the Institute of Economic Development (IED), Arup and Atkins warns that there is still a lack of understanding of what social value is in the construction sector.

In order to remedy this, the report calls for a Construction Social Value Centre of Excellence to be created, which will help the industry define social value.

It also calls for the industry to agree a definition of social value, and what activities are within scope, for the construction sector.

The report also calls for the Treasury Green Book, the Social Value Act and initiate mandatory reporting to be updated, in order to improve Treasury guidance on the monetisation of social value metrics and enable the assignment of different financial values to social value activities according to different areas.

The new report comes after the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) launched a new task group which will develop a definition of social value for the built environment sector.

Despite growing interest, the UKGBC said there is still significant confusion around social value in the context of the built environment.

‘Construction is central to placemaking, economic development and UK employment, and the sector spend is estimated to be £500bn by the end of this decade,’ said IED chair, Bev Hurley.

‘There are huge opportunities and requirements for the public sector, industry and government to step up to the plate, to make sure that every one of those construction pounds delivers additional tangible social impact, and makes a major contribution to our most disadvantaged citizens and left-behind communities as we plan our post Covid-19 strategy.’

Arup’s associate director of sustainability, Alison Ball added: ‘The recommendations in this report provide clear steps for the construction sector to help fulfil its key role in generating social value. The global pandemic the world faces has triggered an increased awareness of the importance of social value and resilience in our communities and highlighted existing inequalities.

‘It is vital that the industry and policymakers take this into account as they develop recovery plans at the national and local level, and use this moment to drive change in how social value is delivered through construction, providing real, substantial benefit for citizens.’

Photo Credit – Jarmoluk (Pixabay)