Prepare Now for the new 2027 Social Value guidance

Social Value is set to become significantly more important in UK public procurement.

Under the Government’s newly announced procurement reforms, Social Value is expected to carry a minimum 20% weighting for major central government contracts worth £5 million or more. This represents a substantial increase from the current Social Value Model, where a minimum 10% weighting applies.

For SMEs with ambitions to win larger public-sector contracts — either directly or as part of a supply chain — this is not something to address when the tender lands. The time to start preparing is now.

The direction of travel is also becoming clearer. The Government intends to streamline Social Value assessment around tangible economic outcomes, particularly British jobs, skills, training and opportunities. For contracts over £5 million, suppliers should therefore expect these commitments to have a meaningful influence on their final evaluation score.

Over time, we at BidHelp.co.uk fully expect that the move to 20% for Social Value will filter down into lower value tenders over time, so getting prepared now is critical for longer-term success.

Evidence will matter as much as ambition

A common mistake is to approach social value as a collection of promises created specifically for a tender. Increasingly, buyers will want confidence that commitments are credible, measurable and capable of being delivered.

SMEs can put themselves in a stronger position by introducing relatively simple initiatives now and recording the results. In addition, if there are specific public sector bodies that you’re looking to work with, try researching their core Social Value drivers and tailoring your efforts around them. Many organisations will have Social Value strategy documents or similar available for download from their websites.

For example, businesses could:

• Create apprenticeships, internships or work placements, recording participant numbers, hours completed, qualifications achieved and subsequent employment outcomes.
• Partner with local schools and colleges to provide careers talks, mentoring, workplace visits or industry skills sessions.
• Support people facing barriers to employment, including young people who are not in education, employment or training, long-term unemployed people or those returning to the workforce.
• Invest in workforce development, tracking training hours, professional qualifications, promotions and progression into higher-skilled or better-paid roles.
• Review pay and employment practices, including opportunities to demonstrate the creation of good-quality jobs and salaries above statutory minimum requirements.
• Develop relationships with local SMEs and social enterprises, recording supply-chain spend and the economic opportunities created through those relationships.

None of these activities needs to begin at enormous scale. For an SME, a well-managed programme involving a handful of people can be far more credible than an ambitious commitment with no supporting evidence.

Start building your Social Value evidence bank

Businesses should establish a simple Social Value Evidence register now. Record what was delivered, when it happened, who benefited and what measurable outcome resulted. Keep attendance records, anonymised participant data where appropriate, partnership confirmations, photographs, case studies, training certificates and feedback.

Crucially, establish a baseline. If you currently provide 50 hours of work experience annually and increase that to 100, being able to evidence both figures demonstrates additional impact.

Social value should also become part of bid planning rather than something delegated to the person writing the tender response. HR, operations, procurement, finance and senior management may all hold information needed to substantiate a strong answer.

With 20% of the available marks potentially resting on social value for £5m+ opportunities, businesses that wait until implementation to act could find themselves trying to manufacture evidence they simply do not have.

Those that start now can enter future competitions with something much more compelling: a proven track record, measurable outcomes and credible commitments backed by evidence.

For more information, book a session with us at BidHelp.co.uk, starting from just £75 + VAT.