The rules on social value across the UK

Every public body in England: the Social Value Act

The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires a public authority, before it starts procuring services above the thresholds, to consider how what it buys might improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of its area, and whether to consult on it. It is a duty to consider, not a duty to score, and it falls on the buyer, not the supplier. The Cabinet Office's PPN 003 confirms it covers services, not goods or works alone, and not call-offs from frameworks. It does not apply to Welsh devolved authorities, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Two parts of the Procurement Act 2023 add to it in England. Buyers must have regard to the importance of maximising public benefit, and to the particular barriers small and medium-sized enterprises face (section 12). And they must have regard to the National Procurement Policy Statement (section 13), in force from 24 February 2025, which says: “Contracting authorities should deliver social and economic value that supports the Government's missions including by working in partnership across organisational boundaries.” It also calls increasing spend with SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises “a national priority to drive economic growth”. It sets no weighting.

Central government: PPN 002, then PPN 026

Now: PPN 002 and the Social Value Model

PPN 002 applies to central government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, for procurements above the thresholds started under the Procurement Act 2023 on or after 1 October 2025. Defence and security contracts, private utilities and below-threshold procurements are excluded. Its key rules:

• social value must be assessed in every in-scope procurement, with a minimum weighting of 10% of the total score;
• the buyer selects one or more outcomes from the Social Value Model, usually one, that relate to the subject matter of the contract and are proportionate;
• social value cannot be a condition of participation: it is part of the quality assessment;
• every commitment a supplier makes must be reflected in the contract as terms or performance indicators.

The model groups eight outcomes under the government's five missions:

Each outcome has model award criteria and standard reporting metrics, such as the number of apprenticeship opportunities created under the contract, or direct spend with SMEs. If your offer matches a metric, the model says to use it.

From 1 January 2027: PPN 026

PPN 026, published on 5 August 2026, applies to the same central government bodies for procurements started on or after 1 January 2027 (a procurement starts when its tender notice is published) valued at £1 million or more including VAT. It replaces the eight outcomes with two:

• Good jobs offering fair pay and good working conditions, with award criteria on creating and retaining high quality jobs, fair working conditions and fair pay;
• Skills: activities to address skills shortages, with award criteria on training and retraining, in-work progression and the talent pipeline.

The minimum weighting becomes 10% for contracts of £1 million to under £5 million, and 20% from £5 million. Contracts of £5 million or more should carry at least one social value key performance indicator, and poor performance against social value indicators can be taken into account when deciding whether to exclude a supplier from future tenders. The government's announcement said the £1 million threshold means the rules “don't typically apply to the work smaller firms and local social enterprises are bidding for”, and gave 45 days of work experience as an example of the social value it wants.

Councils in England

There is no statutory minimum weighting for councils. Beyond the Social Value Act and the policy statement, each council sets its own approach, usually in its procurement strategy or social value policy. Some set a minimum: the LGA's toolkit quotes Hammersmith and Fulham and West Sussex, both applying at least 10% on contracts over £100,000. The Local Government Association's National Procurement Strategy 2022 describes social value as improving wellbeing “over and above the delivery of the services directly required and at no extra cost”, and its toolkit treats a stand-alone weighting of at least 10% as a developing council and more than 15% as a leader.

Many councils measure social value with the TOM System (Themes, Outcomes and Measures), developed from the National TOMs framework published in 2017 by the National Social Value Taskforce, sponsored by the LGA. It is run by Social Value Portal, a private company, and attaches financial proxy values to its measures. It is not government policy, but if a council uses it you may be asked to commit to numbers against its measures and see them given a pound value. Read how the tender says it will score them: how social value is scored explains the difference.

The NHS in England

NHS England's Social Value Playbook (July 2025) restates the rule from its net zero roadmap: from April 2022, NHS procurements must include a minimum 10% net zero and social value weighting, and this continues under the Procurement Act 2023. The playbook says it applies to most NHS procurements of goods and services other than healthcare services; for healthcare services arranged under the Provider Selection Regime, authorities are expected to assign at least 10% to social value. NHS suppliers also face carbon reduction plan requirements, set out on NHS England's Greener NHS supplier pages.

Wales

The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 places a socially responsible procurement duty on Welsh public bodies, including Welsh Ministers, councils and health boards: they must seek to improve the economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being of their area by procuring in a socially responsible way, contributing to the well-being goals of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and set and publish socially responsible procurement objectives (section 24). The duty came into force on 25 March 2026, with annual reports from 1 April 2026. Major construction contracts of £2 million or more carry model social public works clauses.

Welsh Government policy, WPPN 003, says that where social value is included, a minimum weighting of 10% of the total award criteria should be applied. The statutory guidance on socially responsible procurement adds that a fixed percentage for every procurement is not recommended, so expect weightings to vary.

Scotland

Scottish public bodies follow the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, not the Procurement Act 2023. Before a regulated procurement (from £50,000 for goods and services and £2 million for works, excluding VAT) an authority must consider how it can improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of its area, help SMEs, third sector bodies and supported businesses take part, and promote innovation (section 9). For contracts of £4 million or more it must consider imposing community benefit requirements, such as training, recruitment and subcontracting opportunities, and explain if it does not (section 25).

Scottish buyers must also consider whether it is relevant and proportionate to include Fair Work First criteria: paying at least the real Living Wage, effective voice for workers such as trade union recognition, investment in workforce development, no inappropriate use of zero hours contracts, tackling workplace inequalities, flexible and family friendly working from day one, and opposing fire and rehire. The real Living Wage is mandatory for Scottish public sector grants, but in contracts it can be required only where relevant and proportionate.

Northern Ireland

The revised PPN 01/21 Social Value in Procurement, effective from 24 February 2025, requires Northern Ireland public bodies within its scope to allocate at least 10% of the total award criteria to social value on services contracts above £500,000 and works contracts above the UK threshold, including VAT. The services threshold was raised to £500,000 to remove barriers for small and micro businesses.