Few topics generate more uncertainty in public sector bidding than social value. Most suppliers understand that it matters. Yet, many still struggle to understand what evaluators are actually looking for, and how a smaller business can compete against larger organisations with bigger CSR budgets.

The introduction of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 made it clear that bidders need to take this seriously. Now with the added emphasis on social value in the Procurement Act 2023, anyone who fails to incorporate it into their bids cannot expect to have success anymore. In fact, an analysis by Social Value Portal found that scoring the highest on social value doubles the win rate. With social value’s growing importance in UK public procurement policy, how can providers rise to the challenge?

How Social Value Became Part of Public Procurement

The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 was introduced to ensure that the UK public sector take into consideration the positive economic, social, and environmental impact of any services that it procures.

With this piece of legislation, social value could no longer be ignored when bidding on tenders. However, this was still a very simple and non-specific piece of legislation.

In 2018, the government stated explicitly that it would evaluate social value when awarding major contracts. The beginning of 2021 saw the introduction of the Social Value Model, which explains ‘how to take account of social value in the award of central government contracts.’ The government also required that social value be given a 10% weight on the scoring of bids.

In early 2025, the Procurement Act 2023 came into force. This refined the measure of social value. For instance, it requires that awarded social value actually be relevant to the subject-matter of the contract, and that contracting authorities treat suppliers equally.

There’s no doubt about it – the importance of social value in UK procurement policy is steadily and definitely increasing.

One UK Market, Four Different Approaches

Although we talk broadly about ‘UK procurement’, this is not a monolith. Each of the four constituent countries has their own unique, albeit very similar, expectations.

England: Put simply, England is governed by the decisions of the UK Parliament.

Scotland: The Procurement Act 2023 does not apply directly to Scotland. The most relevant equivalent legislation in the context of social value is the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. Like broader UK legislation, this sets the requirement to ‘improve the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of the authority’s area.’ However, the exact ways in which a supplier should achieve that goal is specific to Scotland’s own Act, which outlines it in the sustainability procurement duty in Section 9. Scotland is increasingly taking a Community Wealth Building approach – so rather than always looking for new social value initiatives, instead this looks for place-focused activities that can build on existing arrangements/partnerships to help deliver transformational impacts.  

Wales: The Procurement Act 2023 applies to Wales. However, Wales also has its own, specific regulations. The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 sets out a detailed explanation of what’s expected. It also has the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, focusing on:

• A prosperous Wales
• A resilient Wales
• A healthier Wales
• A more equal Wales
• A Wales of more cohesive communities
• A Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language
• A globally responsible Wales

Northern Ireland: The Procurement Act 2023 applies to Northern Ireland as well. However, Northern Ireland also has its own legislation in the form of PPN 01/21 – Social Value in Procurement. Among other things, this law highlights the need to procure ‘ethical and sustainable supply chains’.

What Evaluators Are Looking For

A winning bid needs to be specific and relevant to the contract. The buyer wants to see that you have actually read the ITT documents and understood their aims and objectives, as well as what services will be involved. Similarly, they need to see that the social value you are promising actually has local relevance. This will give it more weight and will demonstrate that you have really done your research.

Anyone can promise anything. For your bid to have credibility, the buyer needs to see that you actually know how you are going to fulfil your promises. In what specific ways are you going to generate social value? How are you going to deliver them in a practical sense? Making grand promises may get the buyer’s attention, but if you have no coherent explanation for how you’ll make your promises a reality, you may end up just undermining your own credibility.

An experienced evaluator will see right through an unrealistic target, so don’t overcommit. The buyer needs to see clear, specific, realistic targets and commitments. They also want to see strong evidence, perhaps from past work, that shows you can meet these targets.

And let’s be honest – even with the best will in the world, good intentions sometimes get forgotten. How are you going to measure what you promised to ensure that you really are reaching your social value targets? This needs to be specific. What exactly will you measure, how will you do so, and how will you report it?

Your response should be as easy as possible for the evaluator to score. Make sure the rationale between the local need and your specific commitment is clear; explain precisely how you will deliver it; and provide evidence of your competence. Being able to evidence and measure the social impact of your initiatives will also land well with evaluators.

Avoid these pitfalls common in weak responses:

• Generic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) statements
• Unsubstantiated claims
• Recycled text
• Activities unrelated to the contract

How to Create Social Value

What are some of the specific ways that a bidder can create social value? Some answers are rather straightforward. For example, the bidder could explain that their services will provide X amount of job opportunities to those in the local community.

Another way is by offering apprenticeships. You could work with local colleges and universities to provide apprenticeship opportunities for the students.

Social value can also be generated through the use of local suppliers. What local suppliers exist in the area in which the services will take place? How you would incorporate them into your supply chain?

These three ways of generating social value are powerful. However, they are also fairly standard. By using a bit of creativity, you can devise some other possibilities.

For instance, consider how you might work with local charities. Could you lend out equipment to local organisations or offer volunteer programs? What about sending a representative to visit local schools and generate interest in your company’s area of expertise? Looking into all of this information might seem overwhelming. Helpfully, there are online systems which provide databases of charities and organisations divided by type and location. Some systems even allow the charities to register their specific needs. You might consider using such a system to identify many specific ways in which you could benefit the local community.

Always remember the key areas of social value:

• Economic
• Social
• Environmental

Before deciding which aspect of social value to focus on, you need to understand what the priorities of the buyer are. Go beyond the tender documents and research local authority strategies, Indices of Multiple Deprivation, and other locally-relevant sources. Has the buyer published a strategy on emissions or apprenticeships? Could you attend a Meet the Buyer event? The information from these sources will enable you to bring your social value in line with the wider objectives of the buyer.

You can also use Clarification Questions to gain greater insight into what kind of social value would be most valuable to the buyer.

You need to include input between various departments to create a credible social value response. For example, the delivery team knows what’s actually feasible, while the finance department knows what’s affordable, and so on. Good collaboration is essential.

A Note of Caution: A community benefit cannot be considered ‘social value’ if it is already an intrinsic part of the core service. For instance, when bidding on a tender for constructing a new housing estate, the increase in available housing will not – at least not directly – be considered an aspect of social value.

The SME Advantages Nobody Talks About

It’s easy to feel that SMEs are at a significant disadvantage to bigger organisations in this area. However, the truth is that SMEs have lots of advantages that business owners often overlook. When presenting your bid, demonstrate that you know your strengths and are prepared to utilise them.

Delays cost money. No buyer wants the service to fall behind schedule. Having a faster decision-making process than a Large Enterprise is valuable and attractive to the buyer. This is especially helpful when collaborating between the different subject matter experts within the business.

As well as having faster decision-making processes, an SME is more likely to have a stronger local presence, an existing place in the local supply chain, and firmer community relationships than a Large Enterprise.

A Large Enterprise might be able to argue that it can produce the largest social value programme. This does not, however, mean that they can produce the most credible one. By highlighting your existing relationships with the local community, you may well have the real advantage.

Six Practical Tips for Future Tenders

1. Start with the specification/contract, not your CSR. This shows to the buyer that you’ve read the ITT documents and you understand what’s really involved.
2. Read the authority’s priorities and align your social value commitments to local objectives. Again, this demonstrates competency to the buyer by showing that you’ve done your research and that you can provide what they are looking for.
3. Measure everything, because numbers score better than aspirations. This shows the buyer that you’re committed to making your targets a reality.
4. Build evidence before you need it by creating a social value evidence library. This library of information will always be useful to you.
5. Avoid overpromising and commit only to what you can deliver. Obviously, unrealistic targets will only hurt your credibility in the evaluation stage, and failure to meet them would hurt your reputation in the long run.
6. Expect contract management scrutiny. Social value commitments increasingly become contractual obligations.

The Procurement Act 2023 has not created social value, but it has reinforced the direction of travel. Buyers are under increasing pressure to demonstrate community benefit, and suppliers are expected to play their part. The only organisations that will succeed are those that rise to the challenge. How can they do that? By making specific, measurable, and credible commitments to provide truly authentic social value, benefitting local communities on an economic, social, and / or environmental level.