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Have your say:  ​Help shape the future of social value in the UK

What does best practice look like when it comes to embedding social value in commissioning processes and procurement contracts across the public and private sector?  It should be a straight-forward question - especially given that the Social Value Act came into force more than seven years ago – but it isn’t.
 
For every organisation that understands the transformative power of social value, there are many that still don’t view it as an essential requirement, and where it is being delivered, there is often inconsistency and a lack of guidance.  

This is the problem that Contract For Change has been set up to find solutions for.   
The group contains practitioners (including Samtaler’s director, Sarah) from both public and private sector organisations who have come together voluntarily to pool their skills and expertise to help find solutions to these challenges. 

​They are now seeking the views of their fellow professionals to help understand how social value is being delivered across the UK, and how it can be improved. ​

Contract For Change is a thought-leadership group founded by Social Value UK which brings together buyers, suppliers, policy makers, academics and social value, procurement and sustainability professionals.  

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They have put together a short questionnaire to find out how UK procurement professionals are currently working to create social, economic and environmental benefits through their procurement activity.   

​As well as professionals working within Social Value creation, they also want to hear from anyone who works within community benefits, societal benefits, sustainable development, added value, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental, social and governance (ESG). 

The questionnaire is being launched in September but readers of the Social Value Files can be amongst the first to complete it here now.
 
This is a major opportunity for the procurement profession to make a significant contribution at a national policy level.   The results will be used to help understand how organisations currently implement social value; how professionals want to see things change in the future; and what resources and support they need to help them embed social value properly across their organisations. 
 
Contracts for Change will amalgamate this expertise into an extensive body of best practice and  to create a comprehensive toolkit featuring case studies, guides, templates and other tools to help  professionals and organisations more effectively embed social value into their strategic and operating practices.   The toolkit will provide clear direction in how to position, plan, operate and provide for the creation of greater social value; from organisational strategy right through to detailed commissioning and procurement practices and will encompass practical techniques such as measurement methodologies and evaluation criteria.  
 
Social Value has come a long way in the seven and a half years since the Social Value Act came into force with many procurement professionals, stakeholders and suppliers now recognising the huge social, economic and environmental benefits of embedding social value in contracts. Yet we know that many organisations, both in the public and private sector, still encounter obstacles that dilute the potential impact of social value creation.   Lack of resource and budget are major barriers, but so is lack of guidance and clarity around the benefits and return on investment.  
 
That’s why we welcome this work and are supporting the Contracts for Change initiative.   It will enable organisations to reflect their social value priorities into their strategy, policy and operations and offer professionals in the industry a chance to standardise practice, measurement and reporting.
 
The group is welcoming differing views and approaches to help establish the evidence base for best practice, so please lend us your voice and share it with your network. The more responses we get, the more we will know that we’re going in the right direction.  There is a huge amount of experience and expertise out there in our industry – share yours. 
 
Click here to submit your views

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As one of the UK’s most ambitious social value agencies, we’re helping businesses place social value at the heart of their commercial strategy.   Contact us to find out how we could help you.

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