What are the requirements set out by the Social Value Act?

The UK's Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 applies in Scotland, but Scotland also has its own robust social value framework, primarily through the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. This legislation mandates sustainable procurement and requires public bodies to consider social, economic, and environmental well-being, aligning procurement activity with national priorities such as the National Performance Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. While the Social Value Act requires consideration of social value delivery in public contracts, the Scottish Act establishes a broader sustainable procurement duty, embedding local needs, community wealth building and long-term outcomes into public spending decisions.

At SCAPE Scotland we believe that social value is not just about compliance; it is integral to our approach to procurement.

The Public Services (Social Value) Act requires people who commission public services to think about how they can secure wider community benefits - social, economic and environmental – and ensure that they are successfully delivered. This helps to secure more value for money from procurement, by ensuring that community benefits and social impact are integral to the process, and benefit the local area, its stakeholders, and its community.

Strengthening the social impact of publicly procured projects is one of the key principles of Community Wealth Building in Scotland, ‘increasing fair work and developing local labour markets that support the strength, cohesiveness and resilience of communities’.

By placing social value at the heart of public service commissioning and taking a more holistic approach to procurement, the Social Value Act is designed to create:

1. Economic impact

• Tackling economic inequality by prioritising local labour, and creating more employment opportunities
• Ensuring spend is directed locally by using local supply chains, which ensures the retention of budget and its circulation within the local area
• Increasing supply chain resilience, health and capacity
• Creating new businesses, new jobs and new skills

2. Social impact

• Improving societal wellbeing, such as community cohesion, and health
• Promoting equal opportunities, by reducing skills gaps and tackling workforce inequality

3. Environmental impact

• Fighting climate change through effective stewardship of the environment
• Sustainability impact through climate action and carbon reduction, that supports Scotland’s journey towards Net Zero

These actions support a just transition for Scotland, ensuring environmental sustainability is achieved alongside social value and economic inclusion.

Additional requirements in Scotland

In Scotland, public procurement operates within a distinct legislative and policy framework designed to maximise social value and long-term outcomes. Key elements include:

• Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014: Requires public bodies to use procurement to improve economic, social, and environmental well-being, with a strong focus on involving SMEs, third-sector organisations and supported businesses.
• Sustainable Procurement Duty: Places a duty on public authorities to consider sustainability, fairness, and equality in all procurement activities, in line with Scottish Government guidance.
• National Performance Framework (NPF): Scottish procurement is aligned with the NPF and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring public spending delivers wider social impact beyond cost and compliance.