Herefordshire Council is developing the way it buys goods and services to maximise the benefit to local people and communities, the local economy and the environment.
Since the Public Services Social Value Act 2012, public services have been required to consider how they can secure wider social, economic and environmental benefits through their purchasing and contracting arrangements. A recent review of the council’s social value processes has highlighted areas for improvement to ensure the most benefit locally. This includes improving knowledge and awareness of social value with staff and providing suppliers with information on priority focus areas so they know how they can best contribute.
Cllr Davies, Cabinet member commissioning, procurement and assets said: “We can be doing more to use the council’s buying power to drive improvements to social, economic and environmental wellbeing locally. By ensuring our suppliers commit to adding social value this can assist in creating and retaining local prosperity in the widest sense - through supporting local employment, improving skills and job prospects, tackling inequality and improving quality of life.
“Our new approach will build on what is already established to help maximise social value contributions from the supply chain. We will be highlighting priority areas for our suppliers, aligned with the priorities in our county plan, so they can respond in ways that best fit the needs of our county. This is particularly important as we look towards local recovery following the impacts of covid-19.
“We will be putting in place measures that enable us to monitor progress, the positive impact and benefits, over the coming months.”
Examples of social value contributions from suppliers include local voluntary work, offering work experience and training opportunities, and working towards being carbon neutral by 2030.
The full social value statement can be found on the council web pages at: http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?Id=7407
Further details for suppliers: Please register your interest to join our upcoming webinar Introduction to Social Value - Herefordshire Council , which will be held on 25th January 2021. More information on selling to Herefordshire council can be found on our web page at Doing Business With the Council, where you will also find a link to register on our eTendering portal for tender opportunities.