Contractors must add value for residents

DESPITE the fact that we are in the midst of a growing pandemic, and in amongst the negative commentary mirroring it, it was reassuring to see Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s budget contain significant plans to invest in the UK.

UK motorways and roads, for example, are set to benefit from a staggering £27 billion spend. We can assume that plans are afoot to improve our county’s infrastructure, too.

We can also assume that many infrastructure-led contractors will be vying for contracts to help the council spend the allocated money.

However, as the founding partner of a social enterprise – and the UK’s first ever data-driven media agency to hold social enterprise status – my thoughts immediately turn to the social value that residents can expect to receive from major contractors over and above, for example, road maintenance.

In addition to basic competence required to deliver a project, councils must consider the social value derived from awarding large sums of money to contractors; a point that may become even more pertinent once the shadow cast by the cloud of coronavirus is no longer present.

A contractor’s commitment to social value must be woven into the very fabric of a contract.

Great strides have been made since the introduction of the Social Value Act in 2012, which requires local authorities to consider how procurement could improve the social, economic and environmental well being of an area. Indeed, many companies that we work with, such as Amey, now have social value plans in place that guarantee a percentage of profits is reinvested in the community and in initiatives that have the potential to improve the lives of many.

Like Good Karma Media, Amey has joined the Buy Social Corporate Challenge; a move that has seen it commit to spend £1bn with social enterprises that reinvest in the communities they serve. Whilst Good Karma Media’s budgets do not quite extend to that scale, we too have made a fixed – and immovable – commitment to reinvest 50 per cent of profits back into social value projects, be that supporting the long-term unemployed, helping abused women or assisting the regeneration of the honeybee population, all of which we do.

The point is that willingness to invest by government at both national and local level should be applauded. The budget numbers outlined by both national government are substantial. So too, therefore, is the opportunity to boost social value in our county. Jo Edwardes

Founding partner, Good Karma Media