Is Your Charity Taking Advantage of the Social Value Act?
Every year, the UK government spends £292 billion on goods, work and services from external suppliers, including charities.
How do you make sure your charity is one of them?
The easiest way is to understand the Social Value Act and how you can use it to your advantage.
What is the Social Value Act?
The Social Value Act was first introduced in 2012. Under this law, publicly funded organisations and companies providing services to the public have to think about the social, economic, and environmental impacts of how they spend their money, and how their spending can improve wellbeing.
The goal of the legislation was to make sure public money was spent in a smart and beneficial way.
Last year, the Procurement Policy Note came into effect (an amendment to the Social Value Act). In a nutshell, the update says that public bodies stating they have corporate and social responsibility policies and programmes will no longer cut it. The direct social impact of the policies must be evidenced.
The update also outlined specific areas that the government wants to focus on: COVID-19 recovery, tackling economical inequalities, fighting climate change, advancing equality of opportunities, and improving wellbeing.
What does this have to do with charities?
The Social Value Act was brought in to make sure that when publicly funded organisations and companies offering public services pay external groups for goods, work, or services, they’re choosing organisations which do good for the world and their communities.
This is where charities come in. Having stronger requirements for public organisations when it comes to social value means that they have a much higher incentive to work with charities.
If you are in a position to put yourself forward for contracts/opportunities, you can use the Social Value Act’s requirements to help you stand out from the competition.
For example:
Emphasise your local links. The Social Value Act is all about benefiting communities. This is easier on a local level.
Show evidence of your impact. Now that this is a requirement for organisations, it’ll help if this information is available and easily accessible. It shows you know what you’re doing and that you can make their job easier if you end up working together.
Link your projects and skills to the areas the government wants to focus on.
Where do I start?
Websites like whatimpact and the Gov.UK Contracts Finder can help you find the right partners to work with.
Read the VCSEs: A guide to working with government guidance: a government guide for voluntary, community and social enterprise groups.
If you’re likely to be working with big contracts, make sure you get comprehensive legal advice from a firm that’s up to date on rules, regulations, and best practices.
Even with these resources, competing for contracts can be tough. More than anything, you need the right staff. And that’s where we come in. Give us a call on 0203 750 3111 or email info@bamboofundraising.co.uk to find out how we can help.