What is Social Value?
This webage sets out the key objectives Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) seek to achieve for its neighbourhoods and residents through the delivery of its Social Value policy.
It also intends to provide information and guidance, and signpost to other available support to assist suppliers when engaging in a procurement exercise with the Council and the ongoing management of any awarded contract.
Social value can be defined as:
‘The wider benefit to a local community over and above the direct purchase of the goods and service from the delivery of public contracts.
In its simplest form, Social Value can be considered as the wider social, economic, and/or environmental benefit created within a local area through the spending of public money. Examples of social, economic and environmental benefits are show below:
| Social | Economic | Environmental |
|---|---|---|
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Social Value is not a new concept. It has been around for a number of years, and has been referred to under many different names, ‘sustainability’; ‘added value’ and many organisations have been delivering social value type activity under the umbrella of ‘corporate social responsibility’.
On 31 January 2013, it became a legal requirement, through the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, for local authorities and other public bodies to consider the Social Value that could be generated through Service contracts that are subject to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
What does this mean?
Legally the Council is only required to consider Social Value in its Services contracts where the estimated value is greater than £189,330[1]. However, our social value policy goes beyond this standard ensuring all contracts and tenders over £100,000 include social value measures.
The Act does not alter the procurement process, but rather supports public bodies to ensure wider (social, economic and environmental) impact is delivered through the public money that is spent.
[1] Value correct as at 1 January 2020
