As the exit polls last Thursday confirmed Britain’s worst-kept secret – that Labour would form the government for the next 5 years – minds began to focus on what that would mean for the country. As Social Value Practitioners, our first thoughts are around how this will create a positive impact on people’s daily lives.
To date, there has been limited government intervention in the realm of social value. To their credit, the Coalition Government introduced the Social Value Act (2012) requiring people who commission public services to think about how they can also secure wider social, economic and environmental benefits. This was later extended to Government procurement with the Social Value Model for Central Government Procurement (PPN06/20), which sets out how to take account of social value in the award of central government contracts.
However, this legislation only scratches the surface of how, when done properly, the mandating of social value can make lasting positive changes to people’s lives. The guidance to date is limited in its application and, in our view, could have gone much further to include areas such as planning policy.
There have been some early indications of what to expect from the new government. A progressive but cautious approach to social equality, welfare, and public services, with early interventions in areas such as education, health, the cost of living, crime and safety, will likely create long-term social value in Britain.
However, social value is best created when communities are empowered, objectives and ambitions are aligned, solutions are optimised, and outcomes are thoughtfully targeted and measured. It is not yet clear what Labour will do to pass explicit legislation for the creation of social value. Below is a list of five changes that RealWorth would like to see:
1. An Outcomes Approach to Social Impact: We would like to see a greater focus on outcomes when setting targets and collecting information on social impact. Ambitions should be co-created by communities, agencies, the private and public sectors, with businesses and public sector organisations collecting data and reporting on how people’s lives have changed as a result of their actions.
2. Social Value in Planning: The existing planning system has been identified as an obstacle to economic growth by the new UK government. We believe that, utilised correctly, it can support positive social impact. In the promised ‘blitz of planning reform’, we would like to see mandatory Social Value Statements and post-occupancy impact reporting being required for a period after completion. This can help ensure that not only do new homes and infrastructure get built, but they create lasting social value for people once delivered.
3. Investment in Social Enterprises: Labour should support the growth of organisations that use a business model to re-invest profits into their social mission. This could involve increased funding, tax incentives, and support programmes for businesses that address social challenges, to help facilitate progressive social change.
4. Community Wealth Building: Policies that encourage community wealth building should be adopted, where areas are strengthened through local procurement, support for VCSEs, and community ownership models. This can enhance the role of social value in local economic development.
5. Training and Employment Programmes: There should be greater initiatives to support employment and skills development to help address the UK skills shortage, particularly for disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable groups. This could involve partnerships between government, businesses, and educational institutions to create training programs that enhance social value through improved skills and employability.
The new Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, described the set of circumstances inherited by the incoming Labour government as ‘the worst since the Second World War’, with the country facing significant social and economic challenges. We recognise that these problems are deep rooted, and Social Value is not a panacea to this. However, strengthening this person and community-centred framework will help to promote inclusion, improve social equity and provide a way of unifying, while holding all of us involved in the built environment to account. With the right support from the new Government, we believe that it could also build long-overdue trust between those involved in creating and managing places, and those who live and work in them.
