Social Value Procurement Framework
= used in the "Preston Model"
Description
CLIFFORD SINGER:
"As well as directing spending into the local economy, the anchor institutions are developing “progressive procurement” strategies, which take into account social value alongside conventional criteria of cost and quality. Lancashire County Council established a Social Value Procurement Framework in early 2016, whose objectives include promoting local training and employment opportunities to tackle unemployment, raising local residents’ living standards (e.g. through paying the living wage and supporting employees with childcare), supporting voluntary and community groups, reducing inequality and poverty, and promoting environmental sustainability (e.g. by cutting energy use and using materials from sustainable sources).
Matthew Jackson believes such an approach is starting to alter the behavior of small businesses, as well as that of procurement officers. Many are being asked to account for social value for the first time. There are possibilities to increase the scope of this approach, such as by extending social value criteria to include trade union recognition. Jackson adds that in recent years government regulations have made it easier for councils to include social value considerations when procuring goods and services. Both the UK’s Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and EU directives introduced in 2014 have opened the space for purchasing that supports SMEs and aims to achieve wider economic, societal, and environmental goals.
With this in mind, CLES is developing more sophisticated measurement frameworks that go beyond capturing the financial multiplier effect of local spending – though that itself is significant – to indicate wider measures of social value. It has developed a “social value outcomes framework,” which it is currently using to assess Preston City Council’s top 300 suppliers.
...
Reflecting the growing interest in Preston’s strategy, several local authorities have visited recently, and the council is planning a community wealth toolkit that can be adopted by others. Derek Whyte says: “We want to provide proof of concept and a toolkit. We’ll say to councils: you’ll need to tweak it, but here’s the evidence.” Preston is also networking with local authorities elsewhere in Europe. The council has been appointed lead partner of the Procure Network, part of the European Union’s URBACT project to promote sustainable urban development. The network will explore how procurement can be harnessed to maximise local economic, social and environmental benefits. The 11 partners include cities in the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia and Italy. CLES’s Matthew Jackson has undertaken a baseline study of the partners, and will track progress over two years and help them realise change.
In the early stages of Preston’s community wealth building project, the team focused on getting buy-in from the senior leaders of anchor institutions, an approach vital to its success. Now, through peer-to-peer networks like Procure, there is potential to spread these ideas to new places." (http://thenextsystem.org/the-preston-model/)
Principles
The framework focuses on six outcomes:
- promoting employment and economic sustainability;
- raising the living standards of all residents;
- promoting participation and citizen engagement;
- building capacity and sustainability of the voluntary and community sector;
- promoting equity and fairness; and
- promoting environmental sustainability."
(http://thenextsystem.org/the-preston-model/)
More Information
- links available from the Preston Model page