Ten percent of the score: making social value count in government tenders
From 1 October 2025, every in-scope central government procurement commenced under the Procurement Act 2023 must weight social value at 10% or more of the score. That is not a new number, but almost everything around it has changed: the model is now built around the Government's missions, commitments must be written into contracts, and the days of treating social value as a copy-paste annex are over. PPN 002 is short, but it quietly raises the bar for buyers and bidders alike.
Why the refresh matters now
The National Procurement Policy Statement puts mission-led procurement at the centre of public buying, and PPN 002 is its delivery mechanism for social value. The updated model gives commercial teams a model question, a menu of award criteria and sub-criteria tied to the missions, and standard metrics for contracts. Until 1 October 2025 there is a transition window in which organisations can still use PPN 06/20 for Act procurements; after that, the new model is the requirement.
For suppliers, 10% is often the margin between winning and losing an otherwise close bid. Because the assessment is qualitative, generic pledges tend to score poorly against criteria that have been refined for the specific contract. The bidders who do well are the ones who answer the actual question asked.
What organisations get wrong
The first mistake buyers make is lifting criteria wholesale without refining them. The PPN requires criteria to relate to the subject matter of the contract, to be proportionate, and to comply with section 23 of the Act and the principles of equal treatment and non-discrimination. An irrelevant criterion is not just poor practice, it is a compliance risk.
The second is the commitment gap: promises scored at tender stage that never become contract terms, KPIs or performance indicators. The PPN mandates that every social value commitment made during procurement is reflected in the contract. If your contract does not carry the commitments, you cannot manage their delivery, and you are out of line with the policy.
The third is burden creep. Demanding heavyweight evidence and lengthy responses on modest contracts ignores the duty to have regard to barriers faced by SMEs and VCSEs. Proportionality is written into the policy, not left to goodwill.
What good looks like
Good practice starts at planning stage: choose one relevant outcome from the model menu, refine the criteria for the contract in front of you, and keep the ask proportionate to the value and nature of the work. Use the published Guide to Using the PPN 002 Social Value Model and put evaluators through the available training so qualitative scoring is consistent.
Then close the loop. Contract the commitments with metrics attached, advertise any jobs created to deliver the contract on the Government's 'Find a Job' website, and monitor delivery through contract management rather than assuming award-stage promises will look after themselves.
And for bidders
Respond to the criteria in the tender, not with a boilerplate corporate responsibility statement. The scoring is qualitative and anchored to the selected sub-criteria, so specificity wins. Explain what you will do on this contract, in this place, with these people.
Only promise what you can deliver and measure. Commitments are contracted and tracked, so an inflated pledge becomes a performance problem later. For SMEs and VCSEs the direction of travel is favourable: the burden rules cut your way, and the model is designed to let genuine local and social impact compete.
The takeaways
- From 1 October 2025 the 10% minimum weighting applies to all in-scope Act procurements.
- Criteria must be relevant, proportionate and drawn from the mission-aligned menu.
- Every scored commitment must end up in the contract as a term, KPI or performance indicator.
- Jobs created to deliver a contract must be advertised on the Government's 'Find a Job' site.
- Bidders should promise only what they can deliver: commitments are contracted and managed.
Want the full breakdown?
The complete explainer covers the key facts, the requirements in detail and a practical action list, free and printable in the Procurement Library.