Catch22 has long recommended that government should invest more, without additional costs, into tackling youth unemployment through revising the social value model applied when it buys goods and services.
We therefore welcome today’s Cabinet Office announcement of new measures for using public procurement to create jobs and address skills development.
The new measures will mean that, when awarding contracts, the government will give more weighting to how its potential suppliers will generate additional social value outcomes for local growth, tackling skills shortages, and apprenticeships and work placements opportunities.
We are particularly pleased that this new Social Value Model aims to benefit those who need it most: young people not in employment, education or training (NEET), care leavers, and those with long-term health conditions.
The new model also looks to create a more level playing field for voluntary sector and small business suppliers in public procurement as, too often, they were excluded through complex processes and conditions.
As a charity and social business, Catch22 is at the forefront of national and local public service delivery. As such, we understand the need and value of voluntary organisations in public procurement markets, and the importance of enabling them to be genuine and successful competitors.
Andy Canniford, our Chief Officer for Impact and Growth, said:
“As both a provider of employability and skills programmes through social value funding and as public sector contractor, Catch22 knows the crucial role social value requirements play in creating local opportunities.
We therefore welcome the government’s commitment to ensure that public procurement reaches further in delivering local growth, addressing youth unemployment, and supporting local communities. We are also encouraged to see the government’s recognition of civil society expertise, innovation, and local partnership in creating a fairer process for the voluntary sector in public procurement.”
While we fully support the intention to use social value requirements to increase opportunities for young people, we are concerned that sustainability, modern slavery and equality criteria have taken a backseat, despite each playing a role in creating fair and good futures.
For the government to achieve its objectives, it would further need to ensure that the actual implementation of social value throughout contract lifecycles will be as important as initial commitments in the bidding document. Our learning also indicates that it would need to reflect on how the measures would apply to commissioning people-focused services.
Some of the most impactful social value initiatives we have seen have grown beyond initial contractual commitments through strong partnerships with local communities, charities, and grassroots organisations. It will be important that the new model retains flexibility to encourage these opportunities to flourish, while continuing to hold suppliers to account for delivery.
The new measures announced today will initially apply only to central government procurement. We are keen to see what a potential roll out of the Social Value Model could achieve further, given plans for further devolution and more local government commissioning power.
We are looking forward to working with the government on developing clear guidance to maximise the impact of the new measures for young people, care leavers, and communities.