I’m doing well thanks – and especially looking forward to what we have planned over the next year at Onward.
Can you tell us what your role is at Onward Homes and how Social Value comes into it?
I’m the Head of Procurement here at Onward and one of the key objectives in my role is to identify how our spend can help our local economy thrive and how our suppliers can help deliver more for our customers and communities.
At Onward, we work hard to make a real difference to the lives of people in our neighbourhoods. We don’t just exist to provide our customers with a home, we also strive to give the right support and opportunities to help them grow, supporting people and communities to fulfil their aspirations and potential.
It is at the very heart of what we do, and it’s been great to see our organisation demonstrate and deliver on our commitment to Social Value.
We’ve just had the tenth anniversary of the Social Value Act. What would you give Social Value out of 10 based on what you’ve seen since 2012?
I would have to say 7 out of 10.
It has come a long way, being embedded within organisations’ culture and decision making, but there is more to be done in joining up organisations to maximise our resources.
How do you see Social Value helping your local residents over the next 10 years?
The world is constantly changing, and we are all seeing our customer’s needs and demands shifting. Technology is advancing and achieving zero carbon by 2050 is a must. There are some major challenges ahead, but also huge opportunities – and certainly there’s plenty of social value out there to be realised.
When it comes to making The Onward Difference, we know we can’t do this alone, but by working in partnership. We can do more, together, by sharing knowledge, coordinating resources, and focusing relentlessly on what will give our customers the best outcome.
Through greater collaboration between organisations, we can provide more great opportunities to enable our customers to create better communities to live and thrive.
Finally – for procurement teams across the country, what single piece of advice would you offer when it comes to delivering Social Value in a way that makes a real difference for local communities?
Keep it simple! Consider a few basic things that will make a difference, identify who is best to deliver them and what support is needed to enable this to happen.
I’m good thanks Dan, been enjoying being out and about in the community in the great weather the past month.
Can you tell us a bit about your role and the Social Value work you do?
I’ve been a Social Value Manager at EQUANS for 18 years now and created the majority of the social value templates that the company uses as standard, I cover London and the South East although often spread my wings to engage with our teams nationally. The role is extremely varied and rewarding, and includes assisting the bid team with tenders in relation to our social value commitments and Employment and Skills Plans. I’m responsible for delivering our Social Value Promises to a client base totalling on average £88m per annum. One day I can be presenting to Govt Ministers about Care Leavers and the next building a community allotment with local volunteers or hosting a fun day for local residents. Just this week I’ve volunteered at a Digital Inclusion Workshop for over 50’s, built a community allotment, carried out mock interviews at a secondary school and arranged for a lorry load of furniture to be donated to a refugee housing project! I’m currently working on a flagship initiative to support Survivors Of Domestic Abuse, we’ll be launching the scheme with EDAC (Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant) in the next month – WATCH THIS SPACE!
In our experience, suppliers do a lot of work to help deliver Social Value. What’s the best Social Value project you’ve been involved in and what lessons can you share?
Wow! That’s a tough one as there have been so many great projects over the years. I guess my favourite to date is our “Helping Hands” scheme. The project was created to help people who are often missed by traditional Social Value activities – the disabled, care leavers, people in overcrowded housing, homeless and the elderly. The scheme allows them to request help with their gardens, decorations, fixtures & fittings – many of this demographic become overwhelmed when going into their first home, or as is the case with the elderly and disabled are sometimes unable to redecorate or carry out small DIY tasks due to mobility issues. My former colleague Claire Preston linked the scheme to our work with the Care Leavers Covenant and the results have been amazing – assisting over 120 care leavers in the past 2 years and a total of over 200 vulnerable residents. Huge benefits to peoples mental health have been the biggest positive from the scheme. Key lessons were to engage heavily with the internal volunteer bank, utilise the supply chain to provide support and keep the offer concise so people knew what they could get help with.
A close second would be our Employability Scheme “Kick Start” (Named before the new govt scheme), it helps some of the hardest to engage youth back into employment and has won 14 awards since it’s inception 15 years ago.
If you could send a general but helpful message to contracting authorities that want to improve the way they do Social Value, what would it be?
Be flexible with your approach, one size doesn’t fit all – the clients that we have the most productive Social Value outcomes with are those that are able to react to their residents changing needs. Try to request commitments that play to your contractors strengths, you’ll always get more value that way. This is a slightly controversial one, but be realistic with apprentice and employment targets – quality over quantity usually has a higher success rate for both employer and apprentice.
And for suppliers who are increasingly being challenged to deliver Social Value, what would you advise?
A good internal volunteer scheme is really key, as is ensuring that all your staff live and breath the social value ethos. Ensure you have a robust apprentice programme that includes a strong mentoring element. Great partnerships with your supply chain will also ensure you are able to deliver more value!
Chichi is the Social Value Adviser at the Hyde Group and convenes the Social Value Leaders Group
Hi Chichi, how are you today?
Hi Dan. I am well thanks. A little suspicious of the weather – it’s been acting rather cute and spring-like today, as if it didn’t transport half the country’s bins and garden sheds off into another dimension just last week!
We’ve known each other for a while but for our readers, can you tell us about Hyde Housing and your role there?
We have indeed known each other for a while and what sights we have seen in the Social Value space over the years!
The Hyde Group is one of the UK’s leading (and award-winning!) providers of affordable housing in London, the south east of England and neighbouring areas. It is made up of a group of ‘not-for-profit’ organisations (headed by Hyde Housing Association) and our main business is to provide and manage good quality and safe accommodation, at prices people can afford to buy or rent on long tenancies. We put about 50,000 rooves (and counting) over the heads of more than 100,000 people who might not otherwise have one, as well as providing services to help them improve their life chances, enjoy their environment and contribute to their community.
I have worked for the Hyde Group for *inaudible mumble* years!, but I took up its first Social Value Adviser role about 4 years ago. I have developed the Social Value function from inception, scoping out the service area, developing the processes, procedures and frameworks necessary to maximise Social Value from Hyde’s supply chain – and to track and monitor delivery. I work hand in hand with the Hyde Foundation (and other customer facing teams) because their community partnerships, relationships with local groups, services and individuals facing challenges puts them in a prime position to inform me about where the Social Value we have negotiated needs to be directed.
Building relationships with our Procurement Team has been absolutely pivotal to my role and remit, because the best way to secure Social Value is to formally embed it into the procurement process. I have also needed to inform and liaise with contract managers and those responsible for Hyde’s contracts – encouraging staff across the business to understand the role they play in securing and monitoring Social Value on an ongoing basis. Ultimately I drive Hyde’s Social Value strategy, demonstrating how a commitment to Social Value contributes to our corporate mission and objectives, feeds into our ESG framework and even aligns with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals. With the support of our corporate sponsor (executive leadership team representative), Social Value remains an important fixture on Hyde’s agenda.
You also organise and support the Social Value Leaders Group – can you tell us about that?
The SVLG is a bit of a ‘meeting of the minds’. It is a forum for Social Value leads from across the social housing sector (mainly housing associations, but a few local authorities and other housing related bodies) to connect, learn about Social Value principles, best practice and policy/legislation; and share Social Value approaches, processes, strategies, reporting frameworks and experiences. Ultimately, we support each other to embed and broaden the scope of Social Value within our organisations, acting as a sounding board for ideas and solutions to challenges. It is also a stimulus for collaboration and joint projects that demonstrate the benefits of Social Value on a wider scale. We want to present a collective picture of what Social Value can do for people, local charities/social enterprises, the environment, and shared spaces. We also want to continue to influence Social Value discussions more broadly, so watch this space!
You’re always super busy – but what’s the most interesting thing you’re working on at the moment?
I’d say the piece of kit we are working on together is the most interesting! The MatchMyProject platform that will be launched imminently, is something I am really looking forward to implementing. Making the brokerage function less manual and reliant on human efforts (as efficient as I am!) will mean greater access to support for a wider range of community organisations and local resident groups. Once we register a number of Hyde suppliers/contractors and also community organisations and groups, the pace of matching up requests will see a momentum like never before!
I am also about to Launch Hyde’s first official Social Value strategy, setting out our current position and perhaps most importantly, our ambitions for Social Value up to 2025. The MatchMyProject platform is also linked to the strategy actually, because the strategy delivery plan sets out a target to embed a digital solution for Social Value brokerage! I do love a full-circle moment!
As someone who’s been involved with the Social Value agenda for a long time, what’s the single most important piece of advice you could give to practitioners new to the space?
Keep your approach to requesting Social Value simple (e.g. your framework). It is important that what you are asking for is fair, relevant and commensurate to the value of the contract, informed by the ‘need on the ground’ (beneficiaries being targeted) and clear to all involved – including your supply chain, internal contract managers and senior leaders. It is so easy to get lost in the science of Social Value frameworks and approaches, trying to find the perfect model. There is no flawless model and all systems and frameworks – for requesting Social Value and measuring its impact, should be taken with a pinch of salt. Ultimately we want to engage the supply-chain and encourage them to be stakeholders in the communities they are serving. Bringing about positive change does not need to be super complicated – if it is, fewer suppliers/contractors will engage and local communities will be the ones who miss out.
– Get suppliers to feed into our social value strategy
– Increase our social enterprise spend
– Prepare for changes in the white paper
Social Value is important for the council – particularly with the Commonwealth Games coming up this year. Can you tell us more about the Social Value work you’re doing in connection with that event?
What’s been your biggest challenge with delivering Social Value?
The challenge is to persuade others, colleagues and suppliers, that social value is not an additional task to the day job, it is the day job. Of course, I am biased.
What advice would you give to your fellow Social Value practitioners in councils across the country?
Despite our progress in the last 10 years or so, it seems an uphill struggle, so I would say maintain the passion and energy. Keep going: plan, implement, monitor, innovate, repeat.
