Why is social impact more essential than ever?

Social value brings benefits to the local community, in addition to the benefits gained by the infrastructure project itself. So, a project that creates jobs for local people, employs SMEs and social enterprises, improves social inclusion and increases the wellbeing of people, adds social value.

The UK Government has announced extra funding for a programme of construction projects, including schools, housing, hospitals and highways, to kickstart this recovery and enable the country to “build back better”. Embedding social value into these projects will amplify the positive impact they have on both the economy and local communities.

Across the construction industry, social value can sometimes be perceived as an add-on or an optional extra. A culture change is needed, to alter this perception and move towards embedding social value and community benefits as part of the procurement, delivery and legacy of a project, recognising the long term benefits of social value through the whole life cycle of a project.

As a public sector organisation, we believe we have a responsibility to take a leadership role in the development of social value outcomes. Developing new ways to better engage with, involve and inspire local communities is always at the forefront of our minds. It is integral to both the design of our frameworks and the way in which our delivery partners approach each project.

We include social value from the start of a procurement strategy, all the way through to operational and practical delivery of the programme or project. Embedded as part of the process, for us this is not an additional task.

One example of how we embed social value is the collaborative relationship we have forged with Balfour Beatty through our Civil Engineering frameworks. The commitment to including social impact is driven right at the start of the framework procurement process and is then delivered and monitored via our framework and performance management teams.

We are proud to be a founding member of the National Social Value Taskforce and have fully adopted the National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes, Measures) in partnership with the Social Value Portal.

Through early contractor involvement (ECI) that is enabled through our frameworks, Balfour Beatty’s local teams can come together with you and your local stakeholders to jointly discuss and plan social value targets; and define a road map to achieving them.

The ECI process provides valuable time and insight for the delivery teams to understand the local economic, environmental and social needs which can then be built into the programme.