How the Social Value Model is Reshaping Public Procurement
Happy Tuesday, Transformation Friends. Another week, another opportunity to go Beyond the Status Quo.
Today, we continue looking into how the UK is transforming how it thinks about procurement: the Social Value Model. This builds on our previous discussion about the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, which laid the foundation for embedding social value into procurement decisions. While the Act required public authorities to consider the social impact, the Social Value Model takes it further—moving from consideration to action by making social value an explicit evaluation criterion in procurement.
Traditionally, procurement focused on cost, efficiency, and service delivery. But what if contracts could also drive social change, support economic equality, and help communities thrive? That’s exactly what the Social Value Model aims to achieve.
Grab your morning coffee and let’s get started.
What is the Social Value Model?
Public procurement is a powerful tool. With billions spent on contracts yearly, what if that money could do more than buy goods and services? What if it could tackle unemployment, reduce inequalities, and even combat climate change?
That’s the thinking behind the Social Value Model, introduced in December 2020 as part of the UK government’s drive to embed social value in procurement. It builds on the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, which required public authorities to consider how procurement could improve social, economic, and environmental well-being.
The Social Value Model goes further, requiring all major contracts to explicitly evaluate social value as part of the decision-making process. In short, it’s no longer just about what’s being procured—it’s about the impact that procurement creates.
The Five Pillars of Social Value
The model defines five key themes that should be considered in procurement decisions:
COVID-19 Recovery – Supporting local communities in bouncing back, including job retraining, mental health initiatives, and workplace adaptations.
Tackling Economic Inequality – Encouraging new businesses, fair wages, and opportunities for underrepresented groups.
Fighting Climate Change – Promoting carbon reduction, green supply chains, and sustainable resource use.
Equal Opportunity – Ensuring fairness in hiring, career progression, and supplier diversity.
Well-being & Resilience – Improving health and mental well-being and fostering strong, connected communities.
Each procurement process must consider how contracts align with these themes, ensuring tangible social impact alongside service delivery.
Why Does This Matter for Public Sector Transformation?
The Social Value Model is more than just a policy—it represents a fundamental shift in how governments and organizations approach procurement. Here’s why it matters:
🔹 Moves from compliance to impact – Instead of treating procurement as a checkbox exercise, it ensures contracts deliver measurable social benefits.
🔹 Encourages innovation – Suppliers are now competing based on creative solutions to social challenges, not just price.
🔹 Shifts accountability – Contractors must measure and report on their social value contributions, ensuring transparency.
🔹 Aligns with global goals – The model supports multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), linking local actions to global impact.
Challenges and Opportunities
Challenges:
Defining and measuring social impact in procurement decisions can be complex, as it requires clear metrics, tracking systems, and methodologies that go beyond traditional financial indicators.
Balancing cost-efficiency with ambitious social value targets is a persistent issue. Organizations must weigh the financial bottom line against the long-term benefits of socially responsible procurement.
Avoiding “social value washing” is critical, where organizations claim to deliver social value but fail to provide verifiable results. Ensuring proper reporting mechanisms and accountability structures is necessary to prevent superficial commitments.
Opportunities:
Embedding equity, sustainability, and resilience into public contracts fosters long-term social progress and ensures procurement becomes a tool for systemic change.
Leveraging procurement as a strategic tool for transformation allows governments to drive broad societal improvements while securing necessary goods and services.
Encouraging public-private partnerships to co-create solutions creates opportunities for innovative collaborations, where businesses and government agencies work together to design and implement impactful programs that deliver measurable social outcomes.
What Can We Learn from This?
The Social Value Model forces organizations to rethink procurement from a value-driven perspective. Some key takeaways:
Measurement is key – Data-driven decision-making will separate genuine impact from empty commitments.
Procurement teams need new capabilities – Expertise in social policy, sustainability, and community engagement is becoming essential.
Public-private collaboration is vital – Governments and suppliers must work together to define and achieve meaningful outcomes.
Wrap up
Public procurement is not just about acquiring services but about shaping the future. The Social Value Model is a bold attempt to make public spending work for everyone. But it’s not a plug-and-play solution; it requires rethinking priorities, processes, and partnerships.
Over to you:
How can procurement teams better define and measure social value?
What role should private sector partners play in delivering social impact?
What’s stopping public organizations from making social value a core procurement metric?
Until next time, stay curious and I’ll see you Beyond the Status Quo.