Debate on increasing the social value of public procurement - House of Lords, 23 May 2019

Effective procurement has never been more important for local government.

21 May 2019

To support councils with their procurement, we published our National Procurement Strategy for local government in England. This identified leadership, behaving commercially and achieving community benefits as the key priorities for local government over the next four years.
Social value in the procurement process is crucial to councils and is a key way of helping improve local economic growth. We therefore welcome the Government’s consultation on how the public sector can use the Public Services (Social Value) Act in their procurement process.
We are recommending central government encourages the rest of the public sector to use the social value themes, outcomes and measures developed by local councils, major suppliers, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs).
At a time when local authorities face an overall funding gap of £8 billion by 2024/25, it is important that procurement practices continue to be effective. Councils have proven themselves to be highly innovative and continue to look for different ways to deliver better outcomes for local people.