Answering Social Value Bid Questions

Social Value is an often-neglected part of bidding, despite public sector bids in the UK needing to have at least 10% of the score attributed to it. 10% can easily be the difference between winning and losing out on a contract, and any organisation needs to take social value seriously to give them the best chance of success.

A key point to bear in mind when answering social value questions is that commissioners want to know what you are going to do and how you are going to do it. Experience is still important, but don’t use up all your words talking about previous work, with no reference to what you are going to do.

There are four key strands to social value, of which any combination of could be asked by commissioners:

·         Social – e.g. supporting local charities and initiatives

·         Economic – e.g. creating local jobs and using local suppliers

·         Environmental – e.g. carbon reduction plans and recycling measures

·         Wellbeing – e.g. staff occupational health and mental health support.

For any of the above you are asked about in a bid, you need to be able to be able to make tangible commitments (and commitments you can keep) to score the highest marks. As examples:

·         We will donate £1,000 to the local charity, supporting people with dementia

·         We will create 10 local jobs, supporting the local economy to the tune of £100,000 annually

·         We will reduce our carbon footprint by 5% year-on-year through [e.g. recycling, tree-planting, etc)

·         All employees will be provided with up to £500 annually for wellbeing treatments, including massages.

Adding another layer to making tangible commitments is to make those commitments as local as possible. As examples, engage with a local charity and name them in the bid, or commit to using certain local suppliers.

The above shows you what you need to do when the bid is live, but also consider pre-bid work to get ahead of the game:

·         Research and understand the local social value priorities – all councils should have their social value plans/priorities available publicly

·         Engage with local third-sector, community groups and suppliers, allowing you to tailor your social value commitments to local need

·         Understand what social value you are already delivering as an organisation and document this, allowing you to use it as case studies/examples in backing up new commitments.

If you would like further advice and support on social value, then check out our Alchemy Your Way services, with tailored Bid Consultancy solutions to meet your needs.