Whitehall issues new social value guide

The government has published new guidance on the social value act to help commissioners and policymakers get the most out of the legislation.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has issued the introductory guide, which it claims gives ‘practical advice’ for anyone carrying out duties under the act for the first time, or who needs a refresher.

The social value act became law in 2012 after receiving cross-party support and requires public sector organisations, like councils, to consider how procuring a service or contract could improve the ‘social, economic and environmental well-being’ of its relevant area.

The guidance recommends an ‘outcomes-based approach’ to commissioning to encourage ‘innovative cost and effective solutions’.

‘For example if, rather than re-procuring a street-cleaning service, we thought about how to keep the streets clean, we would open up a whole range of alternative solutions that are potentially less expensive too, including social, economic and environmental benefits,’ the guidance states.

‘Increasingly, services are being co-designed with communities and informed by a wide range of potential providers, including small and medium enterprises and voluntary, community and social enterprises who are often well-placed to know about location or user-centric opportunities.’

The guidance also has several tips and practical examples of how to achieve best value.

For example, if a council requires community volunteers to be supported as part of a contract, it recommends indicating particular areas of interest when procuring that are relevant to your organisation’s wider policy objectives.

‘By asking suppliers to work with the wider community to develop solutions, you can meet the outcomes that users want,’ the guidance states.

It calls on councils to focus on outcomes and permit change, thus allowing the supplier to continually improve the solution based on experience on the ground.

‘Make it clear that you want them to work with the community in a sensitive and inclusive manner’, the guidance says.

‘Make sure to raise this with your commercial colleagues when you come to write your tender questions.’

And if a local authority requires the supplier to provide social value through recruitment, the guidance notes it is best to ‘leave it open to the supplier to identify how they can add value to the community through inclusive recruitment’.

‘Note that you cannot require the supplier to change their organisation’s recruitment policy; you can only set requirements for the delivery of your service,’ the guidance states.

• To read the full guidance, click here.