As a result of the Social Value Act 2012, which requires all public bodies to consider how they can achieve positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes via their purchasing decisions, Social Value is usually a required component of a tender, often accounting for 10% of the marks. Commonly, this component is in the form of a quality question/method statement just like the other quality questions/method statements in the tender that ask bidders about their service delivery processes, or their staff training etc, but sometimes buyers use a third-party tool/portal to evaluate bidders’ social value offering. This blog explains what this typically means for bidders.
Instructions
When buyers require bidders to use a separate portal for the submission (and corresponding evaluation) of their social value offering, they will include full instructions on how to register for the portal, how to use the portal, and what exactly bidders need to do. Please do ensure you read through all this information as part of understanding the whole tender and do not leave it to the last minute.
Portal registration
Bidders will need to register on the portal being used. This is free, as is the use of the portal as part of bid submission. There will typically be a specific link provided in the tender documentation, so the account created is linked to the tender. This portal registration is in addition to registering on the portal being used to submit the tender.
Quantitative aspects of the Social Value offer
Use of a social value portal means there is a pre-defined set of commitments for bidders to choose from, each of which has a monetary value assigned to it. As a bidder, you need to make real commitments to delivering against some or all of these – for example, number of new jobs created, number of apprentices taken on, or amount spent in local supply chain. These commitments are entered into the online portal which does all the calculations – with the total becoming the quantitative aspect of the social value score.
For example, if each new job created is ‘worth’ £16,000 and each pound spent in the local supply chain is ‘worth’ £1 and you commit to creating 2 new jobs and spending £1500 in the local supply chain, the quantitative value of your social value offer is £33,500.
This aspect of the offer is usually scored in the same way that pricing is usually scored – the highest value receives full marks, and all other bidders are scored proportionally in comparison.
Qualitative aspects of the Social Value offer
In addition to making the specific commitments, bidders must also explain how they are going to deliver those commitments. So, if you commit to creating 2 new jobs, you need to explain what those jobs are, how you’ll fill them, what the timescales are etc. Likewise, committing to spending in the local supply chain – where will the money be spent and what will it be spent on?
The qualitative aspect is usually in the form of a written response, sometimes with word or page limits. You should also include further information such as who in your organisation will be responsible for tracking and reporting on your social value commitments. This is usually scored in the same way as standard method statements.
Usually, the marks available for Social Value are split equally between the quantitative and the qualitative aspects.
Cost
Whilst use of the portal for a bid submission is free, typically usage of the portal after the contract has been awarded comes with a cost as the portal is used for the measurement and reporting of the commitments made. This cost could either be a fixed cost or proportionate to the contract value.
Specific portals
By far the most common social value portal used is the Social Value Portal, however, we have seen others used by other buyers such as HACT in social housing.
Submission
Remember that in addition to submitting the rest of the tender through the tendering portal, you will also need to submit your social value offer through the separate social value portal by the same deadline.
If you would like to learn more about social value in tendering, why not take a read of these blogs:
The Increasing Importance of Social Value in Tenders
Social Value in Tenders - Tackling Economic Inequality
Social Value in Tenders – Fighting Climate Change
Carbon Reduction Plans in Tenders
Supporting small businesses with their social value
Social Value in Tenders – Health and Wellbeing
