Social Value

The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires all public bodies including local authorities to consider how they can improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of their local area through the services they procure and provide.

This emphasis on using procurement to deliver social value is not new to us. Previous procurement strategies have for many years outlined the approach that we have taken to achieve the best value… defined as:

“to secure continuous improvement in the exercise of all functions undertaken by the authority having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness”.

Under the duty of the best value, authorities should consider overall value including economic, environmental and social value when reviewing service provision. As a concept social value is about:

“seeking to maximise the additional benefit that can be created by procuring or commissioning goods and services, above and beyond the benefit or merely the goods and services themselves”.

The Social Value Act referred to above does not require public sector works or supply (goods), or contracts for services under the European Union threshold for tenders to consider social value, it is however, an objective of this council to consider social value and other sustainability considerations in all publicly tendered contract opportunities proportionately and appropriately wherever possible.