Social value in procurement

We recognise the potential impact the inclusion of social value in our procurement processes and contracts can have on our community and our residents. Our vision is to ensure we continue to build and develop social value that delivers on our missions. 

What we mean by social value 

Social value means creating positive impacts for our community through our activities and decisions. This includes improving the well-being of our residents, supporting local businesses, and enhancing the environment. Social value is about making Camden a better place to live and work, ensuring that every action we take benefits our community in meaningful ways. 

How procurement aids social value 

Procurement is a key tool in delivering social value. When we tender for goods, services, or works with a value of £100,000 or above, we require bidders and ourselves to look beyond the price and quality and consider the wider community benefits. We consider how what we purchase can contribute to our social, economic and environmental goals. This means ensuring our tenders and contracts include social value asks that benefit our residents. The key objective is to work with suppliers who can demonstrate their commitment to delivering social value. 

We aim to maximise the value of every pound we spend, and we need to work with our supply chain, our partners and our community to continue to create and develop opportunities for our local economy and our residents. It is important that social value themes are aligned with our We Make Camden missions. Our social value mission is to support and build on these ambitions and challenges. 

The overall approach to delivering social value through our suppliers is to agree proportionate and relevant social value outcomes with suppliers during the procurement and delivered throughout the contract. 

• social value can be achieved by three different, but complementary routes during a procurement process
• social value can be prescribed as a specific minimum ask in the tender documentation
• suppliers can be asked to be innovative about how they might deliver additional social value through the contract
• suppliers can be asked to provide a donation towards a social value commitment

We include a minimum of 10% weighting in our award criteria for our procurement projects. Tenders will be assessed as part of the overall evaluation process and social value will be included within the contract as a performance obligation, including reporting and monitoring obligations. 

Examples of social value

Social value can come in many different forms, for example an organisation could: 

• create apprenticeships, jobs or work experience for Camden residents 
• employ local people, where possible, and pay fair wages, as a minimum the London Living Wage 
• support local businesses and social enterprises 
• Reduce environmental impact through sustainable practices 
• contribute to community projects and initiatives 
• donate time, material or money to support local community schemes, events, or charities 

For any social value queries email us at socialvalue@camden.gov.uk