Social Value questions in bids and tenders in the UK
Social Value is now a key feature of any government bid, tender, ITT or framework across the UK. Regardless of if you are bidding for a CCS Framework or other framework, a construction tender to a local Council or even an RFP or ITT to the NHS, you can be almost certain there will be a question of social value that is directly reflected in the weighting and evaluation criteria.
Private organisations are now increasingly introducing social value into their procurement processes. In order to provide a comprehensive response to the Social Value question that scores well, you need to tailor your response to the opportunity. Different public sector organisations across the UK, from London, to Birmingham and Glasgow and in regional areas, all have different motivations and priorities from a social value perspective.
With the development of the Social Value Model, and the introduction of the Public Services (Social Value) Act, there is now a more consistent approach to marking Social Value questions and the factors that can be included.
Why is it critical to write a good Social Value response in order to win bids and contracts?
One of the key reasons a good Social Value response is critical to winning bids is the weighting criteria. Questions on social value usually have at least a 10% weighting and we have seen bids with weighting criteria as high as 35%. This means that Social Value and how you score for these questions has a substantial impact on if you win or not.
It also means that even if you have highly competitive pricing, with all the right experience, one of your competitors may win the contract with slightly less experience and slightly high pricing if they score well in Social Value.
Another key point is that Social Value often has an indirect influence on the rest of your tender. This is through what our team at Tsaks Consulting like to call ‘frame of mind’ bidding. An exceptional response to a social value question puts the reading in a positive frame of mind about your company. This is beneficial for the rest of the procurement process.
The Social Value Act 2012 stipulates that public sector buyers have to consider the social impacts of their contracts. More specifically, it talks about economic, environmental and social wellbeing.
7 strategies and tips to write high scoring winning social value responses in your next bid
1. Analyse the question and context
The first step is to read the Social Value question and analyse what they are asking. This isn’t as simple as simply reading the question and answering it. You need to read between the lines and ask yourself:
- Why are they asking this?
- Why are they interested in knowing about this aspect of social value (be it environmental, community, social etc)?
- How does this question fit in the with the project and the organisation?
The next key point is context. You need to research the organisation or department that is issuing the tender to understand what their Social Value aims and objectives are. This will help you develop a response that aligns with their objectives and addresses their needs. It also shows that you have done you homework and will submit a well thought out Social Value response and service. You can gather this information by:
- Looking at their websites (whether it’s a Council in London, Framework in Manchester or NSW Trust anywhere across the UK, their website will give you some insight).
- Read through their social value and environmental policies to get a feel for the flavour.
- Read their sustainability reports, thought leadership and any other articles and general marketing the release.
Once you have an understanding of the initiatives they have in place and the Social Value areas they focus on, you can tailor your submission and response to align with their initiatives and demonstrate how your values align.
2. Deliver something ‘extra’ and put a dollar value on it
Our bid writers guide businesses across the UK to write compelling and high-scoring social value responses. One of the key recurring issues or errors we see in our clients draft responses when we conduct a bid review is that they put forward the general social value initiatives they undertake as a business, or services to be provided as part of the bid, as ‘Social Value’. This generally won’t score well.
In order to win more bids and score well in social value questions in RFPs, RFTs and ITTs, you need to put forward additional initiatives that are a value add and an extra benefit as part of your social value response. They may be contributing to employment, training or the community. Another key point is that you need to quantify the contribution you propose to make. This is a key point as anybody can write anything in social value and procurement teams have read lots of promises over the years.
By putting an estimated pound value on your Social Value initiatives, they are more credible in the eyes of the reader and procurement personnel and more likely to score well.
Some of the key themes you may want to address when developing social value initiatives include:
- Job creation and skills development
- Driving economic growth in community areas
- Providing support to the recovery from Covid-19
- Supporting environmental initiatives and tackling climate change.
Many of the businesses our team of bid writers here at Tsaks Consulting help write bids for are highly core business focused. I.e. If they are builders they are focused on building and medical practitioners are focused on medical services. It’s important to shift your mindset and focus (or engage us to write your Social Value response for you) in order to create a compelling social value response.
3. Provide evidence, examples and write a credible proposal
Your Social Value response and proposition needs to be realistic and credible. To do this you need to put forward evidence of where you have successfully implemented similar initiatives in the past. You also need to attached evidence to demonstrate that you have thought through the implementation of your social value initiatives and how they will work in practice.
When writing a case study for how you have previously delivered a social value initiative, you should cover:
- The contract and context of the contract you delivered the initiative
- Any feedback from those who were involved or benefitted from it (direct quotes quote).
- The positive outcomes it had and how you measured them.
You also need to show that you can actually deliver the initiative. If for example, you propose to provide training to a school or other local organisation, you need to talk about who will provide the training, how it will be provided and what training materials will be used.
4. Localise your social value response
Your social blue response and submission needs to be tailored to the area in which you propose to operate and deliver the services. If you are writing a Social Value response for a bid in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow, Sheffield, Liverpool, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leicester, Coventry, Bradford, Cardiff, Belfast or Nottingham, you will need to put forward Social Value initiatives that benefit those cities, and the local communities within those cities, that the contract or services will be provided in.
Examples of social value initiatives that you may want to cover and tailor to your local area include:
Employment and training
This is a key area and an integral part of any social value bid response. You may consider:
- Talking about new apprenticeships and jobs that will be created by the contract. You should cover the types of apprenticeships and if they will be awarded to any vulnerable groups.
- What wages will be paid (minimum wage or above) to the workers as part of the contract.
- What knowledge transfer and training will be provided to locals as part of the contract?
- Will there be scope for low-skilled or potentially unemployed residents to gain work through the contract.
Community support
This is another key component of Social Value tenders. You need to write about:
- How you will help local community groups and voluntary organisations as a result of this contract. How you will put forward initiatives that assist community groups in the area the project will be delivered in.
- How you will leverage on your firms resources in order to assist and support local community groups and their development. Making your internal resources available can be very helpful.
- Making donations to community groups (ensure you quantify them) or alternatively, donating time to community groups.
Local business and economy support
One of the best ways to create social value is to ensure you economic benefits of the contract flow through to the local community. A key aspect of this is expenditure. Purchasing off local suppliers provide direct assistance to the local economy.
In your submission, you should talk about the value, and also percentage of total expenditure that will be spent on local business. Demonstrate that you have done your homework by listing the potential suppliers you may engage.
Donating expert hours from your internal resources is also a great way to help small businesses grow.
Sustainability and the environment
Putting forward highly tailored and localised environmental sustainability initiatives is another key requirement. You need to put forward initiatives that cover:
- Where your supplies will be purchased from and if they are sustainable sources
- How you propose to reduce your carbon footprint and any special initiatives for the local area
- How you will create greener spaces
You should also put forward practical environmental and sustainability initiatives that you will deliver on.
5. A social value culture
When writing about social value, it’s important not so simply list your proposed initiatives and respond to the questions. The reader may see this as mechanical. What you need to do is talk about how delivering social value is embedded in your culture. Personalise your social value response to show that your personnel have a passion for Social Value and all of your team is actively involved.
You should also talk about any collaborations or partnerships you have in place with local community groups. Make the link between your culture and passionate personnel and your involvement in these community groups.
6. What are TOMs in Social Value responses
Social Value responses are now often being marked according to ‘TOMs’ and with other calculators and you need to keep this in mind when writing social value responses. TOMs stand for Themes, Outcomes and Measures. In these, they will provide the local Council, government department or other authorities social aims and you will need to respond and quantify your response.
TOMs are run by the Social Value Portal and often include a calculator that needs to be completed.
7. Make your initiatives measurable and reportable
You need to be able to measure the outcomes of any social value initiatives and report on them. Therefore, when you are developing your initiatives you need to keep this in mind and ensure it is achievable
Conclusion
At Tsaks Consulting, our expert bid and tender writing service entails helping clients write social value responses that score well and help you win contracts. For assistance with your next bid or framework application, contact our team and discuss where and how we can best assist.
Frequently Asked Questions about Social Value responses
Do your bid writers help businesses in London write Social Value responses and do you service all industries?
Yes – Our bid, tender and proposal writers here at Tsaks Consulting are based in London. We assist organisations from all industries such as health, defence, medical, construction, equipment supply, maintenance and community services. With their transferable skillset, Tsaks Consulting bid writers, led by Jason Cooney, write compelling social value responses for all industries.
Do you write Social Value responses for NHS tenders and frameworks such as CCS?
Yes. The Tsaks Consulting team are highly experienced in helping businesses across the UK respond to RFPs and framework requests including writing social value responses.
Do you provide social value bid writing services across the UK and can you help us develop a social value framework for bids?
Yes – our team combines working from London with working remotely across the UK. We can assist you to write social value bids across the UK including in Scotland and Wales and have strong experience writing across all jurisdictions.
Is there a social value consultancy in Manchester and do you have experience writing social value responses for contracts in Birmingham?
Yes – our tender writing service extends to both Manchester and Birmingham. One of our writers is based in Birmingham and specialises in writing social value responses. We have also helped a number of clients in Wales write social value responses and develop a framework response for their bid libraries.
Do businesses need to do something specific when writing social value responses for construction bids, social value for IT tenders, social value for education contracts or social value responses for local authority contracts?
We can help you write your Social Value response regardless of the industry. In terms of if you need to tailor the type of initiatives to your industry, it depends. The themes are the same overall. However, for example, job creation initiatives may be different for IT tenders than construction bids.
You need to tailor your social value response to the project and industry – however, be sure to focus on the four key themes. Contact our team of bid writers for more assistance.