Foreword
The Partnership brings together several key local organisations, from all sectors, who are committed to developing a positive sense of place and good quality of life for everyone in Rotherham. One of the ways we are seeking to do this is through our social value commitments.
Social value is the added value delivered as part of a contract. It provides an opportunity to integrate economic, environmental, and social sustainability into procurement processes. At its heart, social value is about making sure the local pound goes further, that the money spent by the council, health services, the police and other local partners supports our wider goals, bringing benefits to and creating opportunities for local people.
This could be by creating apprenticeships as part of a construction contract or ensuring local farmer produce is used in catering contracts.
Partners have worked together to produce a Social Value Charter, which sets out the principles we’ll all work to and the commitments we’ll make to embed social value across our organisations.
Within the council, where a social value policy was adopted last year, we are already delivering tangible benefits, and I look forward to pursuing this vital agenda with our partners in the coming months and years.
Cllr Chris Read – Leader of Rotherham Council
Background and intent
The Social Value Charter for Rotherham sets out how commissioners, procurers, service providers and community organisations aim to maximise the amount of social value in the borough. Social value is the added value delivered in addition to a contract. It is about improving the lives of our residents by increasing the economic resilience of our area, supporting local communities, improving our green spaces, and building a place that is inclusive and our residents a proud of.
Principles
By signing up to this charter, signatories are committed to the following principles:
- Ensuring as many residents as possible are paid the Joseph Rowntree Living Wage
- To spend locally with the voluntary sector and SMEs where possible
- To improve the education and skills of residents
- To give employment opportunities to disadvantaged residents, including those who are disabled
- To support fair and worthwhile employment where workers have strong rights and good working conditions
Ambitions
By signing up to these principles’ partners committing to ambitious targets to transform our borough. A social value charter for Rotherham hopes to increase local spend, SME and voluntary sector spend, the number of apprenticeships in the borough and the number of employers paying the living wage.
what we will do
The partnership is committed to making Rotherham a social value borough. We will:
- Overhaul the way we purchase goods and services to ensure that we are generating social value wherever we can
- Evaluate our commissioning processes to ensure they are delivering for Rotherham’s residents
- Assess anchor institutions financial expenditure to ensure as much as possible of the Rotherham Pound (£) stays local
Implementation
By signing up to this charter, partners commit to:
- Embed social value within our organisations
- Develop appropriate social value requirements which reflect the principles of this charter
- Measure and report on the amount of social value generated annually to the partnership
The following video is of our partners talking about their commitment to social value.