Sustainable NI has created a Social Value Toolkit to help councils and public sector organisations in Northern Ireland embed social value principles into procurement.
Social Value is a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis. It does this by generating benefits not only to the organisation, but also to society and the economy, and the environment.
It is widely acknowledged that taking a social value approach to procurement and commissioning can contribute positively to the delivery of greater equality and social inclusion, as well as broader sustainability goals. This toolkit provides practical advice and suggestions on how social value outcomes can be integrated into public procurement approaches.
The Toolkit offers guidance on how to maximise the benefits of social value through supplier contracts by providing:
- guidance on typical governance requirements during procurement and commissioning processes
- examples of social value outcomes that could be identified for use in contracts
- examples of indicators to measure and track the progress of social value delivered through contracts
- example questions to ask during the tender stage so that suppliers can illustrate what they will deliver through the proposed contract(s) to achieve social value
- case studies to demonstrate examples of how social value has been achieved through contract delivery
The toolkit was developed by Sustainable NI.
Download a copy here:
