Social Value Policy

Procurement Policy Note PPN 01/21 – Social Value in Procurement is at the heart of the public procurement landscape in Northern Ireland.

At least 25 percent of the NI Executive budget is spent annually on public procurement. This policy ensures that social value is an integral component of public sector contracts to improve outcomes for people, communities and planet.

The policy requires tenders for services and works contracts to allocate a minimum of 10% of the total weighted score to social value against four broad themes.

The Executive approved revisions to the PPN 01/21 Social Value in Procurement following comprehensive reviews which took place in February 2023 & February 2024. Key revisions include:

• The threshold for scoring social value in service contracts has been increased to £500,000 to remove barriers for small & micro businesses on lower value contracts.
• The commitment to embed social value has been strengthened in other areas, e.g. Departments will develop a Social Value Strategy to align social value objectives to their procurement pipelines.
• It is mandatory to include social value as a condition of contract in works contracts above £500,000 and below the UK Threshold.
• The Social Value Themes and Indicators have been updated to reflect the Executive’s current policies, e.g., the role public procurement has in Delivering Climate Action.
• Indicators have been added on equality & good relations
• Major capital or infrastructure projects which impact on communities must have a plan in place for effective community consultation before, during & after the project (i.e. a social licence workstream).
• To highlight the importance of social value delivery, at least one Key Performance Indicator must be developed for the social value aspects of contracts.

Read the revised policy on the Department of Finance’s website.