Many of us have been measuring and reporting on social value for a long time, because it is the right thing to do! But now we have the Public Services (Social Value) Act and we have to be able to tell people about our social value – just to qualify for the work that some of us have been doing for years.

Don’t get me wrong, the Social Value Act is great – finally, all the things which we value as organizations in the social and community sector must now be taken into consideration in procurement – in fact, before procurement starts. Commissioners of all public services must think about social value and start talking to us about it.

But in finding a way to talk to us and in writing questions to ask us in their tender documentation, the public sector may be starting to discriminate against some of us, or at least making it very hard for us to win the jobs. Smaller, locally based VCSE organisations may be missing out because of how the public sector applies Social Value Act de minimis levels, lacks understanding of our governance forms or is commissioning in complex 'lots' or contracts; and the tools that commissioners and procurement teams are looking for to evidence social value are just too complicated, expensive and time consuming for some small charities or local VCSE providers.

These provider organisations are often those that are bringing the most meaningful social value through local employment, improved skills and aspirations, volunteering opportunities and community resilience, for example; which are often the outcomes that the commissioners perceive as ‘social value’. We may be in danger of losing them whilst the public sector gets its own act together!

Does it have to be like this?

It’s good to talk. Many smaller organisations and co-operatives can and do measure social value, but perhaps not well enough or in a way that can be understood and evaluated by public sector commissioners and procurement teams. Attempting to rectify this situation will be the focus of the Social Audit Network’s conference; ‘Making a Difference’ on Friday 4th April at Newcastle University Business School. Keynote speakers Professors John Wilson and Tony Chapman, and Chi Onwurah MP will discuss how all VCSE organisations can prove that they are really “Making a Difference” and how they capture social value.

These organisations, as well as colleagues from commissioning and procurement teams, can hear about the different tools available, away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach, and practical workshops will focus on the housing, leisure and transport sectors. The Social Audit Network supports individuals and organisations interested in social accounting, maintaining a register of qualified social auditors able to guide people through the process and to verify social accounts if required, giving procurement colleagues the guarantee of robustness authenticity they are looking for in social value reporting.

But even if we do start to improve our reporting of social value, those asking the questions also need to talk to the market and get it right, before we end up with losing the very social value that the Act supports (..or we have what in my experience will scare the public sector more - legal claims for discrimination from certain parts of the market on the basis of size, governance and ability to tender).

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