Social Value Policy 2022

Introduction and background

Since 2012, all public bodies have been legally required to consider how they can deliver additional economic, social and environmental benefits for the community when procuring goods and services, and how they may act to secure that improvement. The aim of this policy is to set out how the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham will seek to meet its obligations.

Requiring contractors to produce Social Value outcomes while they deliver the main element of their contract will enable Barking and Dagenham to deliver more for residents. The council currently spends approximately £400m/year procuring goods and services, providing a significant lever to influence the practices of wider organisations operating in the borough and deliver improved outcomes for residents in the context of limited resources.

Within the council’s contract rules it is already mandated that Social Value must be considered at pre-procurement and strategy development stage in order to comply with the legal requirements to secure additional community benefits. This Policy and the attached toolkit provides the framework to ensure that Social Value is implemented consistently across different commissioning teams; secures more community benefits in line with council priorities; and that impact is effectively monitored and improved over time.

Implementation

Where Social Value will apply

Social Value proposals will be required and evaluated as part of the assessment process from all bidders on all contracts worth over £100,000, with commissioners able to apply Social Value to lower value contracts on a discretionary basis. This means that those bidding for major contracts to deliver goods, services and works for the council will be partly assessed on their proposals to deliver wider community benefits in line with the priorities set out in this policy, in addition to an assessment of the cost and quality of their bid.

How Social Value will be assessed relative to cost and quality considerations

The government recommends a minimum weighting of 10% in order to ensure contractors deliver meaningful Social Value proposals. As such, Social Value commitments will be ‘weighted’ at a minimum of 10% when evaluating potential contractors, with commissioning teams able to apply higher weightings on a discretionary basis up to a maximum of 20%.

What commitments contractors will be asked to make as part of their Social Value proposals

Suppliers wishing to bid for works with the council will be asked to set out convincing Social Value proposals that support delivery of the Borough Manifesto goals and Corporate Plan priorities. The manifesto was the product of consultation with nearly 3,000 residents. Through this process, local people helped set a vision to ensure ‘no one is left behind’ over the next 20 years, with a set of strategic goals, targets and metrics to track progress as shown below:

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Community engagement

• at least 20% of residents engaging with the community

Housing

• build 50,000 new homes over the next 25 years

Health and wellbeing

• rate of physical activity higher than the East London average
• healthy life expectancy better than the London average
• personal wellbeing and happiness above the London average
• healthy weight better than the East London average

Employment and enterprise

• unemployment lower than the East London average
• growth in business larger than the East London average
• income improving faster than the London median

Safety

• antisocial behavior lower than the outer London average
• domestic violence lower than the East London average

Skills and education

• educational attainment at all levels better than the London average

Environment

• recycling higher and waste production lower than the London average

These strategic goals have been grouped into three priority themes which provide the context for the council’s Social Value Framework. These themes are shown below with examples of the sorts of activities and outputs the policy seeks to secure under each theme:

• Investment in local people: tackling unemployment and, securing quality employment, work experience and apprenticeship opportunities – with additional consideration for opportunities created for those facing disadvantage in the labour market (including NEETs, care leavers, young offenders and those with learning disabilities or physical and mental health conditions);
• Investment in the local economy: supporting local job creation by sourcing goods and services from organisations with premises/operations based in the borough and supporting initiatives to build the capacity of local suppliers;
• Environmental sustainability: reducing waste and single-use plastics, promoting recycling and sustainable energy, supporting local growing initiatives and other activities to improve the local environment and air quality

We will encourage all organisations working or seeking to work in the borough to help us to achieve these goals.

Potential contractors will be required to set out a method statement and delivery plan setting out their commitments and how these will be delivered, including how they will work with local partners and (where relevant) ensure compliance in their wider supply chain.

The scoring methodology will seek to encourage potential contractors to make commitments in relation to at least two (and up to three) themes, with higher scores available for bids that make commitments under the themes of ‘investment in local people’ and ‘investment in the local economy’. This seeks to support delivery of the Borough Manifesto goals to increase job density and improve local incomes and employment rates by creating new job and training opportunities for residents (either directly, or indirectly by supporting businesses based in the borough to grow). These outcomes are worth a significantly higher equivalent financial value than initiatives in other areas, particularly where sustainable employment opportunities are created for disadvantaged groups.

LBBD's Social Value Framework

The framework below sets out the council’s priorities and some of the activities that we would like to see from contractors when developing their Social Value proposals. This list is not exhaustive, and bidders are welcome to come up with innovative ideas about how to deliver Social Value in line with borough goals and priorities.

In addition to the table below, all contractors are expected to adhere to the highest possible ethical standards in employment and are absolutely committed to preventing slavery and human trafficking within their own activities and through their supply chain. comply with the Modern Slavery Act by making sure there is no slavery in their supply chains. For full guidance, read the council’s Modern Slavery Statement.

Investment in Local People

Work with the council to meet Borough Manifesto goals to tackle low pay, reduce unemployment and increase access to education and training for borough residents by:

• Providing sustainable (26 weeks+) employment opportunities for LBBD residents.
• Providing quality apprenticeships with clear wage and employment gains for LBBD residents – with a focus wherever possible on apprenticeships at or progressing to Level 3 and above.
• Providing work experience and careers support for LBBD residents.
• Providing work-related learning opportunities for the borough’s schools, such as work experience, insight visits, careers talks, mock interview days and enterprise advisers.
• Providing opportunities for disadvantaged groups – including young people, rehabilitating young offenders, care leavers, and those with mental or physical health conditions and learning difficulties.
• Advertising all local employment and apprenticeship vacancies through the council's job brokerage services, and working with the existing local education and training system to deliver training and careers activities wherever possible.
• Building the capacity of local community groups and activities, such as through volunteering, mentoring and providing space and facilities.
• Supporting initiatives to tackle obesity, anti-social behaviour, domestic abuse, homelessness, and other challenges that affect the independence and resilience of residents.

Investment in local economy

Work with the council to meet Borough Manifesto goals to support job creation and business growth by:

• Buying goods and services from organisations based in Barking and Dagenham wherever possible. Supporting our goal for at least 25% of council goods and services to be sourced from local suppliers.
• Building the capacity of local suppliers to access procurement opportunities, such as through mentoring and meet the buyer events.
• 'Buying social’ where possible, by sub-contracting with organisations that share our values and have a social purpose, such as those from the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors.

Environmental Sustainability

Work with the council to meet Borough Manifesto goals to create a clean, green and sustainable borough, recycling more and reducing waste by:

• Reducing the amount of waste and single-use plastic and seeking opportunities to recycle wherever possible.
• Supporting LBBD’s target to reduce carbon emissions by taking concrete steps to minimise energy consumption and consider the environmental performance of the wider supply chain.
• Supporting initiatives to improve the local environment such as through local growing schemes and measures to address air pollution and fly-tipping.

Social Value Impact Report 23-24 (PPTX, 1.65 MB)

Social Value Policy 2022 (PDF, 578KB)

Social Value Toolkit 2023 (PDF, 1.3 MB)