Social Value Strategies will Improve Procurement Processes for Councils by 20%

  • Security
  • 21.09.2021 01:15 pm

Councils that embed social value strategies into their procurement processes can add a minimum of +20% value says Eastbourne-based security print company Zunoma.

The Local Government National Procurement Strategy shows that councils embedding social value add a minimum of +20% value at no additional cost by providing genuine additional benefits for local communities.

In a recent review conducted by the Local Government Association, only 23% of 343 councils had published a social value strategy, with 44% having no mention of social value online.

Social value is setting the path for public and private sector procurement processes. It is the outcome of efforts by organisations to ensure that successful tenders demonstrate a positive contribution to the long-term wellbeing of individuals, communities, and the wider society.

As one of the key themes of the Local Government National Procurement Strategy, some councils have successfully implemented social value into their commissioning and procurement processes and are obtaining genuine benefits in areas such as employment, training and healthier communities.

Zunoma is urging councils to deliver strong social value initiatives by helping to align its services with local authorities to achieve community benefits.

Dinah Ouzman, Director of Strategy & Product Development at Zunoma, said: “Having a clear and committed social value statement will help communicate to your key stakeholders how seriously you view social value.

“From the recent review, we can see that there are many councils that are missing out on delivering real additional value to their communities, and this revolutionary shift creates a necessity for businesses to be transparent with their social value contributions as part of the tender process.”

Zunoma is dedicated to demonstrating social value contributions and is committed to supporting the local community and local schools. Its HR Manager, Lorraine Willis is working with The Turing School in Eastbourne as one of two Enterprise Advisers.

The role of an Enterprise Adviser is to volunteer time to help bridge the gap between the world of work and education, working with the career leaders and wider senior leaders of the school or college to create opportunities for young people. This government-funded voluntary role helps teachers to plan the school’s careers education and promote different workforces.

Lorraine said: “My role is to give the school strategic advice to help them reach the Gatsby Benchmarks standards which is the national measures for careers excellence”.

“As an HR professional, I am also able to utilise my skills to help students with job applications and employability skills. With Zunoma keen to recruit local talent, working with East Sussex schools makes it hopeful that we will attract the best talent.”

This year, the company will begin to promote upcoming apprenticeships and Kickstarter opportunities to local schools.

Related News