Report: Two in three councils not embracing Social Value Act

01 Jun 2016 News

Only a third of local councils routinely consider social value in their procurement and commissioning, according to a report on the Social Value Act, published today by Social Enterprise UK.

The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, which came into force on 31 January 2013, requires people who commission public services to think about how they can also secure wider social, economic and environmental benefits.

The report, Procuring for Good, which is based on Freedom of Information requests sent to all local authorities in England shows that more councils than ever are considering social value when commissioning services, but that uptake is still low.

Key findings

  • A quarter (24 per cent) of councils have a social value policy or similar document – a comparable number do not have a social value policy (26 per cent).
  • A third (33 per cent) of all councils routinely consider social value in their procurement and commissioning (embracers and adopters).
  • 45 per cent of councils consider social value for contracts for services above the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) threshold of €209,000 (compliers).
  • Embracers - councils who are leading the way on social value, are drawn from every tier of local government, from every political complexion, and from all but one region of England.
  • A third (32 per cent) of District Councils fall into the bystander category; those making little or no use of the Social Value Act.
  • Where councils score social value when scrutinising tenders, the score is typically between 5-10 per cent of the overall points awarded, but is significantly higher for embracer councils.
  • Overwhelmingly, social value is seen to lie within the remit of the procurement team.
  • No council has published an evaluation of savings made as a result of the Social Value Act.

Recommendations

The recommendations in the report included legislative change, with it saying that “guidance has so far proved insufficient”. It also called for better information and more consistent training on social value for commissioners and procurement teams to help them understand the opportunities of the Act.

Methodology

Freedom of Information requests were submitted to 353 English councils between February and April, of which 306 replied. Questions Social Enterprise UK asked included asking for a copy of the authority’s social value policy, how it applies the concept of social value more widely, and how much used the authority makes of the act.

Conclusions

The report concluded: “The barriers to greater use of the Act within local government are both cultural and legislative. Some political and administrative leaders are instinctively innovative, others are innately cautious.

"Sharing best practice may eventually change some hearts and minds, but it is difficult to see what would motivate those councils categorised as bystanders to make use of the Act other than obliging them to do so. Using Lord Young’s categorisation in the Social Value Act Review, both a vertical and a horizontal strengthening of the Act is required.”

Peter Holbrook, chief executive of Social Enterprise UK said: “This research shows that where the will exists, councils in England are using the Act to embed social value into the way they commission services - in many cases going beyond its obligations to create positive change in their communities. This is a credit to the procurement and commissioning teams driving this agenda, they are unsung heroes.

“Sadly too many councils still see the Act as a duty rather than an opportunity. The Act has been in force for more than three years but is not empowering local authorities in the way it could be, to the detriment of our communities. Legislative change is needed - the Act lacks teeth and simply asking public sector bodies to consider the creation of social value when commissioning services is not enough.”

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