The last decade has seen a positive shift in the awareness and adoption of social value across all corners of society. So much work continues to be done at both a national and local level to embed social value into procurement but sometimes for many companies especially SMEs it can prove difficult to navigate. The growing body of law, guidance and voluntary standards from the SV Act, Public Contract Regs, Public Procurement Notices, measurement approaches and voluntary standards can be confusing for many especially for those companies who don’t have in house social value teams. We have supported companies in the development of their SV strategies, responding to public sector bids or delivering SV planning statements and are often surprised by the complexity of questions compared to the contract value or service type being delivered, the huge variations in the measurement requirements and the differences in approach by different authorities or departments. The recent launch of the ISSB Standards led me to think about whether a similar approach is needed to harmonise the SV requirements to create a more consistent approach to regulation, language, and measurement.
It was great to see last month the publication of the Social Value 2032 Roadmap by SEUK and its partners setting out a vision for social value over the coming decade. Its ambitious but achievable setting out some short-, medium- and long-term actions to make social value cover all public sector procurement and influence spending in private companies as well. Actions include the creation of a SV playbook, mandatory reporting, development of a regulatory framework for SV accreditation and measurement tools through to the formation of a SV council to name afew. At the heart is a need for collaboration and creativity across social enterprises, public and private sector. By supporting the recommendations in the roadmap we can help shape the future of social value and hopefully untangle the complexity and create a more level playing field for everyone so we build a fairer and stronger society.
Comments