Is Social Value all about the price tag?
Social value is the extra benefit a project, business, or decision creates for people and communities. It’s not just about profit or cost. It’s about how something makes life better for the people who live, work, and use it. Traditionally we have measured success in money: revenue, savings, ROI etc. Social value is different. Social Value focusses on jobs, growth, the environment, and community. For example:
- Jobs and skills: local apprenticeships, training for young people, employment for groups that are often overlooked
- Environment: lower carbon, reduced waste, biodiversity gains that improve quality of life
- Health and wellbeing: safer spaces, better air quality, access to green areas, less isolation
- Community strength: local suppliers getting contracts, charities supported, volunteering time
Where do you see Social Value in practice?
There are 3 key areas where Social Value operates
1. Public procurement: In the UK, the Social Value Act means public bodies have to consider social value when awarding contracts. A council contract, for example, a waste management company might weigh not just who’s cheapest, but who will hire local workers, train them, run workshops for students and support a local initiative.
2. Business: Companies report on social value to show impact to customers, investors, and staff. Think of a supermarket funding a food bank, or a tech firm running free digital skills classes.
3. Development and infrastructure: A housing project can be measured by homes built, and also by community centres delivered, jobs created and apprenticeships during construction, and long-term wellbeing of residents.
How is Social Value delivered?
There isn’t one single formula, but common approaches include:
- Social Value Model: used in UK government contracts, with themes like Covid-19 recovery, climate, and equal opportunity.
- TOMs framework: assigns monetary proxies to activities, e.g. £ value of one volunteer hour or one person moved into employment.
- Story + data: combine numbers with real stories. “£2m in local spend” means more when you also hear about the small business that hired two new people because of it.
The key to measuring Social Value is to be specific and avoid vague claims. Good measurement ties activities to outcomes not just “we ran a workshop” but “30 people gained a qualification and 12 moved into work.”
Why has Social Value rapidly moved up the business agenda? There are three pressures that are pushing social value up the agenda:
- Risk: Ignoring community impact leads to delays, protests, and reputational damage.
- Expectations: People want organizations to do more than maximize profit.
- Long-term value: Healthier, more skilled, more connected communities are better customers, employees, and partners.
What are the challenges facing Social Value?
Social value can become a box-ticking exercise if it’s not designed with key metrics from the start. It’s also hard to compare across sectors because context matters. What counts as high value in the city of London might be different in rural town in Scotland.
The key is to involve the community early, set clear outcomes, and track and report them honestly, even when the results are mixed.
The Beauty of Social Value
Social value reframes the question from “how much did it cost” to “what did it do for people.” When done well, it aligns financial goals with human outcomes. You end up with projects that are not only viable, but also wanted and useful.
