Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, to ask what steps his department has taken to ensure that central government Departments take account of social economic value under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 in public procurement.

Central Government contracting authorities conducting major construction and infrastructure projects with a contract value exceeding £10 million are required to adopt the Growth Balanced Scorecard. The scorecard guides public procurers in balancing more straightforward matters such as cost, against more complex issues such as social and wider economic considerations when designing their procurement approaches.

Following on from the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster’s speech to the Reform conference on 25 June 2018, the Cabinet Office is currently leading work with DCMS to implement a package of measures for the future of social value and procurement. This includes training for government commercial staff to ensure that all major procurements in central government explicitly evaluate and report on their social and economic value.

Further information will be published in due course.