Social value calculator

Social value is the wider economic, social and environmental benefit a contract creates on top of the goods or services being bought. In UK public procurement it is a formal part of how bids are evaluated. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 requires commissioners to consider social value, and PPN 06/20 - the Social Value Model - sets out how central government departments should weight and score it, commonly at around 10% of the total evaluation. The Procurement Act 2023 keeps social value firmly in scope through its emphasis on maximising public benefit.

The challenge is turning good intentions into something measurable and comparable. That is what a framework like the National TOMs does. TOMs stands for Themes, Outcomes and Measures. Themes are the high-level goals - for example jobs and skills, growth and supporting local business, environment, and stronger communities. Under each theme sit specific, countable measures such as the number of local people employed, apprenticeships started, tonnes of carbon saved, or pounds invested in local causes. Each measure carries a proxy value: an agreed pound figure representing the value that one unit of that activity delivers to society.

To estimate the social value of a contract you multiply the quantity of each committed measure by its proxy value and add them up. The result is an indicative figure that lets buyers compare bids on more than price, and lets suppliers evidence what they are offering. It is common to express that total as a percentage of the contract value, which is why you will hear people talk about a bid delivering, say, 15% social value.

Two things are worth remembering. First, proxy values are estimates, not exact prices - they are designed to be reasonable and consistent, not precise. Second, the official National TOMs proxy values are licensed and updated every year by the Social Value Portal, and individual authorities often adopt their own tailored versions. This calculator uses representative, editable defaults so you can build a first estimate and see how the moving parts interact, but for any real bid you should use the specific values your buyer has adopted.

Once commitments are agreed they need to be delivered and reported through the life of the contract, which is where dedicated software helps - capturing the measures, tracking progress against the plan, and producing the reports commissioners and boards expect. If that is where you are heading, we can help with both the tooling and the reporting.