Local News Outlets: Only spend money with ethical firms, public sector organisations urged
By Sarah Stone
Published across local news outlets - September 2024
Local government among those encouraged to place social value at centre of procurement policy
Public sector organisations “shouldn’t be spending any pennies” with businesses who don’t look after their staff or the environment, a senior social value figure has said.
Lorraine Cox, who leads a government-run procurement shared service and chairs the National Social Value Taskforce, said social value is “everyone’s business” and too many councils don’t properly vet who they were doing business with.
Speaking on the latest Let’s Talk Social Value podcast, hosted by social value agency Samtaler, she said public sector procurement teams should pay more attention to the ethics, behaviour, purpose and reputation of the companies they bring in to carry out work.
🎙️ Related Content:
Click on the image above to listen to the Samtaler Podcast with Lorraine Cox
When the public sector is paying private sector companies to deliver public sector services, social value can help them identify suppliers who offer the best deal for people, planet and communities and that ultimately leads to a better outcome for the taxpayer and society generally.
Ms Cox is the director of STAR Procurement, a local government-run organisation which delivers hundreds of millions of pounds in procurement contracts for councils across Liverpool and Greater Manchester city regions.
She is also chair of the National Social Value Task Force, a nationwide procurement advisory body set up in 2016.
She appeared on the latest edition of the podcast, which interviews leading figures from the social value and procurement sector each month.
Lorraine Cox, director of STAR Procurement and chair of the National Social Value Taskforce, said:
“Social value isn’t a game and it isn’t an add on – we should be challenging suppliers and asking if they are ethical, if they align with our public sector values and purposes.
“We shouldn’t be spending any pennies with anyone who doesn’t align with public purpose.
“That’s where we need to move to, in the north-east and across the whole UK.
“The public sector should demand social, economic and environmental added value when they spend their money.
“And we shouldn’t be contracting people who don’t practice good employment or are not committed to things like net zero.
“A strong social value element in a bid can be the deal-breaker. If you were to remove the social value element, occasionally the winner would be different.
“It’s about businesses who invest, and who are committed to people, place and planet – this is what the value in social value means.
“There are some councils out there who don’t even do social value or have a policy – I find that incredible in 2024.
“Social value is everyone’s business – everybody has a responsibility to ensure it happens.”
Sarah Stone, director of Samtaler, said:
“Cheapest isn’t always the best, and social value provides a really powerful way for public sector organisations to look beyond price and see what the overall value of a supplier’s bid is.
“It’s a sensible business decision too.
“Social value is becoming an increasingly important element when it comes to suppliers bidding for public sector work.
“When done right, social value benefits the public, private and third sector, as well as the communities where these organisations work.”