Social value answers for small suppliers

Social value tender questions ask what extra benefit to people, communities or the environment you will deliver through this contract, beyond the work itself. Small suppliers score well by making modest, specific commitments they can actually deliver, such as work placements, local spending, staff training hours or measurable carbon cuts, backed by a dated plan and clear reporting.

Many small business owners feel they cannot compete with large firms that promise hundreds of apprenticeships. You do not have to. The scoring rewards quality and credibility, not size.

How does the Social Value Model work?

For central government, the rules sit in PPN 002, published by the Cabinet Office in February 2025 under the Procurement Act 2023. It replaced PPN 06/20 and became mandatory for in-scope procurements started on or after 1 October 2025.

The model is a menu. The buyer picks one or more outcomes relevant to the contract, and you answer a standard question. There are eight outcomes, grouped under the government’s missions:

1. Fair work
2. Skills for growth
3. Resilient, innovative and flexible supply chains
4. Sustainable procurement practices
5. Reduction in crime (specifically, awareness of domestic abuse)
6. Employment and training for those who face barriers to employment
7. A pipeline of opportunities for under-represented groups
8. Physical and mental wellbeing

Social value must carry at least 10% of the total score. Other public bodies, such as councils, may use their own frameworks. Our public sector tenders hub explains how social value fits alongside the other tender requirements.

What evaluators are looking for

The model question asks for “specific, measurable and time bound commitment(s)” in a method statement and project plan. A specific, measurable, time-bound commitment is the minimum to score any points at all. After that, evaluators look for:

• a named target group (for example, care leavers or young people not in education or work), or how you will identify one
• how you will reach that group and tailor what you offer
• a timed action plan
• the metrics you will report, using the model’s standard reporting metrics where they apply
• who is responsible, how you gather data and how you will improve

The government guide to the model is clear that volumes are not evaluated. Two work placements with a solid plan can beat twenty with no detail.

Realistic commitments for a small business

Here are commitments a business of 5 to 30 people can genuinely deliver. Each maps to a model outcome.

Skills and pipeline (outcomes 2 and 7)

• Host two T Level industry placements a year with your local college, each with a named mentor.
• Deliver four careers talks a year at a secondary school near the contract site.

Fair work and wellbeing (outcomes 1 and 8)

• Pay everyone working on the contract above the National Living Wage, and report the number each quarter (the model’s metric 1cii).
• Give every contract staff member 15 hours of accredited training a year, logged as person-hours.
• Offer a mental health first aider and an employee assistance line.

Supply chain (outcome 3)

• Spend a set amount of the contract value with local SMEs or social enterprises, reported in pounds.

Environment (outcome 4)

• Cut emissions from delivering the contract by a stated number of tonnes of CO2e a year, measured against your carbon footprint baseline.

Community

• Give each employee one paid volunteering day a year with a local charity, reported in hours.

Pick the ones that match the outcome the buyer has chosen. Answering an outcome they did not ask about scores nothing.

Example answer: a small IT support company

This is example wording for a fictional eight-person managed IT provider bidding for a contract where the buyer chose outcome 2, skills for growth.

We will deliver two T Level digital industry placements in each year of the contract, in partnership with our local further education college, starting in September 2027. Each student will spend 45 days with our support team working on tickets raised under this contract, supervised by our Service Desk Lead as named mentor.

We will also deliver 120 person-hours of accredited cyber security training a year to the five engineers working on this contract, recorded in our training log.

We will report quarterly to your contract manager against metrics 2ai (training opportunities created) and 2aii (person-hours of learning). Our Managing Director has overall responsibility and will review progress at our monthly management meeting, adjusting the plan if placements fall short.

It names a cohort, a partner, a date, an owner and the exact metrics. That is what scores.

The evidence that backs your answer up

Evaluators trust commitments more when they can see you already work this way. Useful supporting evidence includes:

• a written code of conduct and health and safety policy
• records of training delivered, pay rates and benefits
• volunteering or charitable giving you already do
• a measured carbon footprint if you commit to environmental outcomes

An ESG Now report pulls this together. The questionnaire covers workforce practices (Real Living Wage, benefits, training, health and safety), community activity (volunteering and charitable giving), policies and governance, and your carbon footprint. The report records which policies you have in place, and the action plan flags any gaps, such as a code of conduct, worth closing next. You can start your free report and finish it in one sitting.

After you win: reporting your commitments

PPN 002 expects buyers to turn your commitments into contract terms or KPIs and to monitor them. Set up the tracking before the contract starts, not when the first report is due. A simple spreadsheet works: one row per commitment, the metric, the quarterly figure, and a note on any evidence (placement agreements, training logs, invoices from local suppliers). Keep photos and short case studies too. The government guide notes that buyers collect social value case studies, and a good story from your contract can help you win the next one.

Common mistakes

• Answering at company level only. Tie every commitment to this contract.
• Over-promising. Your commitments become KPIs. Missed KPIs follow you.
• Vague cohorts. “Local people” is weaker than “young people not in education, employment or training in the borough”.
• No reporting plan. Say what you will measure, how often and who receives it.

If the tender also has a separate environmental question, our guide to sustainability tender questions covers that. And remember the Carbon Reduction Plan is a separate pass or fail check, not part of social value.