A roundtable event organised by Labour MP Hazel Blears and waste management company Veolia Environnement yesterday (25 February) saw ministers, businesses and social enterprises call on government to develop a ‘Cross-Party Social Value Task Force’ to encourage social responsibility among service providers.

Those present at the roundtable event, held at the Attlee Suite at the House of Commons yesterday afternoon, included MP Hazel Blears, Conservative Minister of Civil Society Nick Hurd, Shadow Business Secretary Chuka Umunna, Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Chi Onwurah, Peter Holbrooke of Social Enterprise UK, and Marketing and Communications Director for Veolia Environnement Kevin Hurst.

Participants outlined that more needed to be done to help public-service commissioners (such as hospitals, schools and local authorities) select service providers that take into account the ‘economic, social, and environmental benefits to residents’, as well as value for money.

It was argued that a task force could be set up to collate best practice and deliver advice to these commissioners, whilst helping service providers decide what kind of bid to make to tenders (such as those for waste management), to maximise their chances of winning a contract.

Building on the Public Services Act

The Public Services Act of 2012 is presently the most substantial piece of legislation in this direction, as it aims to encourage public sector organisations to secure maximum social benefit for local communities. The ‘Social Return on Investment Toolkit’ is also frequently used by organisations to calculate social benefit.

However, yesterday’s event saw ministers argue that these measures are inadequate as they do not outline how these benefits can be measured across a range of services, and ‘mask the lack of understanding of social value assessments’.

Indeed, delegates argued there was a ‘lack of guidance’ for commissioning bodies: in one survey by Social Enterprise UK, 31 per cent of commissioning staff and 51 per cent of providers felt there was a ‘lack of guidance’ under the Public Services Act.

It was suggested that a 'Cross-Party Social Value Task Force' could rectify this by developing a consistent framework for measuring social value, including a range of indicators by which social impact can be measured (such as the number of people helped into work, or reductions in re-offending).

The task force could then make the best practice case studies and detailed guidance accessible to commissioners and service providers via an online portal.

As well as increasing guidance, some ministers were also keen to see the Public Services Act developed to include the ‘development and disposal of assets’ such as infrastructure and building projects.

Case Studies within waste management

One example of how service providers can boost their social responsibility was outlined by Veolia Environnement, which helped organize the event.

Representatives from the company outlined activities it has been taking in Southwark (where it holds a waste management contract) to boost social value. These include:

• keeping streets clean to ‘reduce fear of crime’;
• educating residents on the council’s environmental objectives at Veolia’s onsite educational facility
• holding bag collection points at libraries to help increase library visitation rates; and
• reuse or recycle products to social enterprises and charities.

Marketing and Communications Director for Veolia, Kevin Hurst, said: “Our methodology hasn’t just opened our eyes to the value we offer, it has also shown that we can help support all the local authorities’ goals from lowering crime rates to supporting local social enterprise.”

Blears arguedthat spending more to improve life for residents often meant people would have less reason to call upon the public purse in the long-run, ensuring significant savings, adding: “If we can encourage commissioners to think beyond their immediate bottom-line this will stimulate innovation among would-be service providers…

“At a time of real pressure on budgets, councils and other public sector organisations need to be confident that this will save money in the long-run.

“That is why it is important that we get in place a framework so they can easily see what works and what does not when it comes to deciding who should deliver a particular service.

“This will also give organisations which deliver services a better idea of what they need to do to win these contracts and help the people who matter most, the public.”

Blears added that although the idea of ‘social value’ may not be the ‘sexiest’, she noted that the idea is ‘gaining real momentum’ as it is a ‘truly dynamic concept that can benefit everyone’.

Indeed, the Welsh Government has already developed a new law, the Future Generations Bill (previously known as the Sustainable Development Bill), to build on the Public Services Act.

The law, set to be implemented this summer, will require commissioners in Wales to consider the ‘economic, social, environmental and long term implications’ of their decisions, in the hopes that ‘Welsh public services make key decisions with the long term well being of Wales in mind’.

Find out more about the Public Services Act or the Future Generations Bill.