Social value that delivers: make it measurable, flexible and SME-friendly
Members asserted that if the government wants procurement to grow British jobs and skills, it must avoid turning social value into a blunt instrument.
A blanket 10% jobs/skills rule on contracts over £5m sounds ambitious but risks entrenching tick-box behaviour, penalising SMEs and missing what drives growth in a modern, digital economy. To counter these risks, techUK suggest the following.
One size fits all won’t build skills where they count
A fixed 10% weighting on jobs/skills duplicates existing obligations and crowds out other priorities, such as innovation, wellbeing, and net zero, that often create longer-term productivity gains. In specialist markets (think semiconductors or national cloud platforms), local headcount targets are simply the wrong lever. A more innovative approach is a “menu, not mandate”: buyers select from a co-designed list of metrics, applying jobs/skills only where they fit the category and outcome.
Measure what matters and publish it
The fastest way to cut through box-ticking is to link promises to clear, standard KPIs and publish performance alongside cost and delivery data. When “jobs/skills” is used as an award criterion, there should be at least one tracked KPI (e.g. apprentices started, accredited training hours) with standard definitions so results are comparable. Transparency deters gold-plating at the bid stage and keeps everyone honest in delivery.
Don’t shut out the innovators you want to scale
SMEs and niche tech suppliers often carry the most novel ideas. Yet the do not have the spare capacity to service generic, paperwork-heavy asks. Social value should be proportionate and flexible, allowing consortia, shared apprenticeships with colleges, sponsorship of digital skills bootcamps, or mentoring delivered remotely. These routes can provide real community benefit at lower cost than headline headcount pledges.
Place matters, rigidity doesn’t
Targeting left-behind places is essential, but rigid geo-requirements risk excluding capable suppliers whose teams are distributed or remote. Use a “justified geography” test: specify a location only where there’s a clear local nexus; otherwise, score in-area delivery higher without making it pass/fail. Consider a social-value credits bank, so over-delivery in one region can offset future place-specific asks elsewhere.
Our recommendations to the government
- Maintain a 10% social value overall, excluding any additional 10% for jobs/skills
- Adopt a core menu + flex model with sector sub-lists (including digital inclusion options) and biennial review
- Mandate at least one published KPI when jobs/skills are scored; integrate reporting into Contract Performance Notices
- Establish proportionality in safe-harbours for low-labour or specialist categories and permit aggregate corporate commitments in cases where hyper-local delivery is inefficient
- SME-proof delivery: enable consortia and partnership models; require early market engagement to co-design realistic measures
What should suppliers do now?
- Map your credible social value offers (apprenticeships, accredited training, digital inclusion) and the data you can evidence
- Build local partnerships—colleges, bootcamps, community organisations—to deliver scalable impact
- Prepare delivery KPIs and baselines up front so promises to translate cleanly into contract reporting
Social value should reward outcomes, not paperwork. With standardised metrics, proportionate rules and room for innovation, procurement can grow good jobs and skills without sidelining the SMEs and specialists who power the UK’s digital economy.
Charles Bauman
Charles Bauman is a Junior Programme Manager in the Central Government Programme at techUK.
