Social Value Act

In January 2013 the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 became effective. Its aim is to help commissioners secure more value for money out of the services they procure, by encouraging commissioners to source new and innovative means of delivering services.

About the Act

The Act requires public authorities to consider, in the pre-procurement stage, whether the procurement can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of the relevant area and whether consultation is needed to enable this.

Here at Richmond we have responded by ensuring that there are systems in place to enable officers to consider the relevance of social, economic and environmental requirements when commissioning services.

Social value is to be considered in the initial stages of the commissioning cycle when reviewing service provision, conducting a needs analysis, consulting stakeholders and/or the marketplace, and specifying the services to be procured.

Service commissioners in conjunction with their procurement lead consider on a service by service basis the potential social value that could be delivered (with regard to our social value priorities) and the most appropriate procurement strategy to achieve these benefits.

Social Value was an item considered in a Finance, Policy and Resources Committee Report in January 2020.