Social Value: Small Business, Big Impact

If you have ever opened a public sector tender and found a section asking about "social value," "community benefit," or "wider impact," you are not alone in wondering exactly what is expected of you. It is one of the most commonly misunderstood parts of the bidding process; and, increasingly, one of the most heavily weighted.

This post breaks down what social value actually means, why buyers care about it so much, how to approach the questions, and what kind of offers are realistic for small and micro businesses, without the jargon that usually surrounds this topic.

What is social value?

In simple terms, social value is the extra good that a contract does for people, communities, and the environment, beyond just delivering the goods or service being paid for.

It was formalised in law through the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, which requires public sector buyers to think about how the way they spend money can also improve the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of the area they serve. Since then, the requirement has been strengthened several times, most notably through the Social Value Model introduced for central government contracts, and again through updates that came with the Procurement Act 2023.

Most buyers group social value into three broad areas:

• Social: improving wellbeing, supporting communities, and helping people into work or training.

• Economic: creating jobs, supporting local businesses, and strengthening local supply chains.

• Environmental: reducing waste, cutting carbon, and protecting the local environment.

Many public sector organisations use a standard framework, called the National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures) Framework, to score and compare what suppliers offer. It groups commitments under themes such as jobs, growth, social wellbeing, environment, and innovation, and gives each one a financial "proxy value" so buyers can compare offers on a like-for-like basis, even when they look very different on paper.

Why it matters

Social value is no longer a nice-to-have; it is often a scored, weighted part of the evaluation, alongside price and quality. Weightings commonly sit somewhere between five and twenty per cent of the total score, and some local authorities weight it even higher, sometimes as much as thirty per cent, particularly where the contract has an obvious local benefit.

That means a strong social value answer can genuinely be the difference between winning and losing a bid, even when your price and technical answer are excellent. It also means a weak or generic answer, one that could have been written by any supplier for any contract, will actively cost you marks.

There is also a practical, longer-term reason to take it seriously: under the Procurement Act 2023, social value is increasingly expected to be delivered and evidenced throughout the life of the contract, not just promised at bid stage. Buyers want to see that what you said you would do, you actually did.

How to answer social value questions well

A few principles tend to separate strong answers from weak ones.

• Make it relevant to the contract, not generic. Buyers can spot a copy-and-paste answer immediately. If you are bidding to deliver grounds maintenance in a specific town, your social value offer should relate to that town, not to "communities" in the abstract.

  
  

• Make it specific and measurable. Vague promises like "we will support the local community" score poorly. Commitments that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound (the classic SMART approach) score much better. For example, "we will offer one paid two-week work placement to a young person from the local area within the first six months of the contract" is far stronger than "we support youth employment."

  
  

• Match your offer to the theme the buyer cares about most. Health contracts often weight wellbeing highly; construction and infrastructure contracts often prioritise local employment, apprenticeships, and environmental impact; local authority contracts often reward anything that visibly benefits the immediate area. Read the specification and evaluation criteria carefully, and shape your answer around what is actually being scored.

  
  

• Be honest about what you can deliver. It is far better to offer something modest and genuinely deliverable than something ambitious you cannot follow through on. Buyers are increasingly checking delivery against promises, and a track record of under-delivery will follow you into future bids.

  
  

• Show evidence where you can. If you have delivered similar commitments before, even on a small scale, say so. A short, real example carries more weight than a long paragraph of aspiration.

  
  

Examples of social value offerings

Here are some realistic examples, grouped by theme:

• Jobs and skills: work experience placements, apprenticeships, mentoring for local jobseekers, or paid internships.

• Local economic growth: using local suppliers where possible, sourcing materials locally, or supporting other small businesses in your supply chain.

• Community support: volunteering hours, donating time or skills to a local charity, or sponsoring a community event.

• Wellbeing: mental health awareness training for staff, supporting local wellbeing initiatives, or flexible working practices that support staff who are carers.

• Environment: reducing vehicle mileage, using recycled materials, cutting single-use plastics, or supporting local green spaces.

• Innovation: sharing useful business knowledge with local schools or colleges, or offering free advice sessions to other small businesses.

  
  

What small and micro businesses can realistically offer

This is where many small business owners assume they cannot compete, but that is not true. Buyers are increasingly aware that social value should be proportionate to the size and value of the contract, and small, genuine commitments are often viewed more favourably than grand, vague ones from larger suppliers.

Realistic offers for a small or micro business include:

• Offering one short work placement, mock interview session, or CV workshop for a local jobseeker or student each year.

• Committing a fixed number of volunteering hours to a local charity or community group during the life of the contract.

• Prioritising other small, local suppliers wherever practical within your own supply chain.

• Running a short skills or awareness session, for example on bookkeeping basics, cyber security, or bid writing, for other small businesses or a local community group.

• Making a small, regular donation of time, skills, or materials to a named local cause.

• Reducing your own environmental footprint in a way you can measure, such as switching to electric or low-emission vehicles, or cutting paper use.

The key is picking one or two commitments you can genuinely sustain for the length of the contract, rather than listing everything you can think of. A buyer would rather see two credible promises than ten unlikely ones.

Where to find more information

If you want to go deeper, these are useful, publicly available places to start:

• Social Value Portal: publishes guidance and news on social value policy and the National TOMs Framework, and is widely used by public sector buyers to measure supplier commitments.

• Government Commercial Agency (formerly Crown Commercial Service): publishes guidance on the Social Value Model and current Procurement Policy Notes, including PPN 002, which sets out the model used in central government contracts.

• gov.uk: search "social value in procurement" for the latest Procurement Policy Notes and the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 itself.

• Your local council's procurement or commissioning pages: many local authorities publish their own social value framework or priority themes, which is the best way to tailor your offer to that specific buyer.

Social value does not need to be complicated, and it certainly does not need to be expensive. What buyers are really looking for is a genuine, specific, deliverable commitment that fits the contract in front of them. Get that right, and it can turn a good bid into a winning one.

Need help identifying the right social value offer for your next tender, or turning it into a scoring answer? Get in touch with The Bid Zone.