Social Value
Social value is about securing social, economic and environmental benefits from public procurements and delivering impact for people, places and the planet.
The NHS has a responsibility to our planet and our communities - sustainability is no longer an option, but a must. At NHS LPP, we believe that sustainable solutions mean sustainability in our supply chains as well as our communities. Our dedicated Sustainability and Social Value team uses its expert knowledge to design effective social value solutions in tenders that both accommodate the category area of procurements, as well as the needs of local communities.
As such, we have implemented a pan-London social value procurement approach to bring benefits to healthcare organisations and local communities that are tailored to the specific needs of the city. The impact we intend for communities is to reduce inequalities and improve the health and wellbeing of the population. The outcomes of this are to achieve strategic priorities and to maximise value for the public pound.
How did we get here?
The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 put an obligation on public sector bodies to consider social value in the procurement of goods, services and works. Following this, Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/20 was designed to create a standardised and complete approach to assessing and incorporating social value in procurement for Central Government from January 2021.
NHSE adopted this PPN and have mandated that NHS organisations include a minimum 10% weighting for social value in all procurement activity from April 2022 through their ‘Applying net zero and social value in the procurement of NHS good and services’ guidance.
This was reinforced by PPN 06/21 which redoubled the NHS intent to become the worlds first net zero healthcare provider and how this can be done via the leverage of procurement to encourage the decarbonisation of NHS suppliers.
Strengthening social value across the NHS in London
In 2020, the NHS London Anchor Network (LAN) was established. The network’s focus was on using the NHS’s resources, including procurement spend to drive economic, social, health and environmental benefits. This network asked NHS LPP to develop a social value solution on behalf of the five London Integrated Care Boards to standardise the approach across the region.
What we did
The team sought to develop a social value solution for the NHS in London that would be responsive to local needs while also driving broader policy objectives. The solution needed to be user friendly for procurement teams, enabling them to implement and embed a novel way of procuring and to understand how their purchasing activity is part of a whole systems approach to health and wellbeing.
We conducted ICB-level analysis to understand the drivers for inequalities within each geographical area to form the basis of the social and economic outcomes we wanted to design.
We identified a range of unique challenges and priorities across the ICBs which reflected the diversity of London, as well as a range of shared priorities which reflected common challenges faced at a regional and national level. We found these priorities could be best served by a toolkit of flexible social value mechanisms which could be adaptive to changing needs, as well as different category areas and procurement activities.
We also reviewed the procurement processes and skills found across London healthcare procuring bodies. Utilising our procurement expertise, market insight and experience of working with trusts, we determined that the most effective system for maximising social value in procurement would be an end-to-end solution and support service.
Please also see our resource bank for materials to support you to embed social value in procurements.
To find out more or inquire about our services, please contact socialvalue@lpp.nhs.uk
