Agenda item

To consider a report of the Assistant Chief Executive which provides a mid-year update on achievement towards the Social Value Policy outcomes and priorities for 2023.

Recommendations

That the social value mid-year report be received.

The Chair invited the Chief Executive to introduce the report. It was noted that OSMB had previously resolved to receive mid-year progress reports on Social Value activity, commitments and delivery. This report provided details of progress at mid-year 2023.

It was outlined that the aim of the Social Value policy was to maximise the local impact of the Council’s spend. Its focus was to secure Social Value as part of the letting of contracts along with securing payment of the real living wage (as set by the Living Wage Foundation). It also involved working with other public sector organisation and anchor institutions to support them in their development of a Social Value policy and delivery of commitments.

Key elements of the Social Value Policy, that informed the development of actions and delivery were:

·       Raising the living standards of Rotherham residents and commitment to working towards the Living Wage Foundation Living Wage.

·       Increasing the proportion of the Council’s expenditure, which went to local businesses and providers.

·       Building social value into all council contracts and maximising the impact gained from every pound spent, through the introduction of a rigorous system for assessing and measuring social value.

·       Committing to the principle of co-designing services wherever possible.

The priorities for 2023 were:

·       Focus on increasing social value commitments for skills and employment as part of overall progress (paras 2.6 – 2.20).

·       Further research to build local market intelligence (paras 2.21 – 2.34).

·       Supporting new and existing businesses to enter into new markets, from which the Council buys goods and services (para 2.47 – 2.49).

·       Continuing to embed the foundations of strong social value delivery through contract manager and supplier learning and development, tools, and evaluation (paras 2.50 – 2.52).

Details were given of the key performance indicators that the Council suppliers have delivered against on contracts procured and awarded between the implementation of the Social Value policy in December 2019 to May 2023. These included the number of people to benefit, training hours, tonnes of carbon saved and monetary values (and proxy values).

The total social and local economic value committed since the introduction of the Social Value policy showed significant increase from £13.6m (included in the last annual report to Cabinet in March), to £25.3m at the mid-year position (up to end of May 2023), a net increase of £11.8m or 87%. The total contract value attracting Social Value showed an increase from £106.86m in the annual report to £175.5m at mid-year, a net increase of £68.6m or 64%.

The report outlined that the use of Place, People and Corporate categories was procurement terminology to group similar types of expenditure:

·       Rotherham Places covered construction, facilities management, environment, and transport.

·       Rotherham People covered commissioned services for delivery to residents such as health and social care provision.

·       Rotherham Corporate covered contracts that support the operational running of the Council (i.e. ICT, temporary labour, training, PPE).

Of the three categories, “places” had seen increases from £6.5m to £15.3m; with “people” achieving £1.9m increase from £6.6m to £8.5m and “corporate” achieving £1.1m from £461k to £1.6m.

It was reported that the policy was continuing to make an impact. This included 130 full-time equivalent hires on local contracts, with over 450 weeks of apprenticeships delivered and £276,000 worth of social value in assisting unemployed people into work. Almost £2 million has been spent in the local supply chain and over 1000 tonnes of CO2 had been saved, supporting the net zero target.

Details were given of the case studies which demonstrated the positive impact the policy had had on supporting people across the borough. It was noted that the Council had received its annual accreditation for the real living wage. Further work was underway with partners to support this initiative. It was further highlighted that the Council had been received the Public Sector Leadership awards in September for its work on social value.

The Chair invited questions from Board Members and a discussion on the following issues ensued:

·      Clarification was sought on the percentage spend on construction-related activity. It was noted that the fluctuation was due to the spend of one-off grants at the start of projects. It was noted that 27% (down from 38% in 2021/22) of total construction spend went to Rotherham-based suppliers. Further work would be undertaken with partners to actively engage and support local suppliers to understand the Council’s procurement and commissioning processes. It was anticipated that this activity would increase the use of local suppliers including those in construction.

·       The focus on local businesses and companies being awarded more contracts was welcomed. Further details were requested on how local businesses, contractors and subcontractors applied social value principles in delivery and how this was monitored. In response, it was outlined that this was explicit in the contract and contract managers ask for evidence of compliance on a regular basis. It was noted that contracts could be terminated if social value conditions were not applied.

The Chair welcomed the case studies and the format of the report. She was assured that progress was being made and asked that future reports be submitted on an annual basis.

Resolved:

1.    That the social value mid-year report be received.