Social Value in UK Tenders: How to Win the Marks
Social value is now worth at least 10% of the score on most UK public sector bids — and on a close competition, it is often the difference between winning and losing. Yet it is the section suppliers most often treat as a box-ticking afterthought. This guide explains what social value is, how it is scored, and how to write responses that actually earn the marks.
What Social Value Means in Procurement
Social value is the wider benefit a contract delivers beyond the core goods, works or service — the economic, social and environmental good that comes with how you deliver it. In practice that means things like creating local jobs, offering apprenticeships and training, spending with SMEs and voluntary sector organisations in your supply chain, cutting carbon, and supporting the wellbeing of the community the contract serves. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 first required buyers to consider it; the Procurement Act 2023 keeps it firmly in the frame.
PPN 06/20 and the Social Value Model
Procurement Policy Note 06/20 was the step change. It introduced the Social Value Model and required central government contracts to allocate a minimum of 10% of the total score to social value — explicitly, not hidden inside quality. The model sets out themes and policy outcomes buyers can choose from: economic inequality (jobs and skills, supply chain resilience), fighting climate change, equal opportunity, and wellbeing. Many local authorities, NHS bodies and other contracting authorities now apply the same model or a close variant, so it is worth understanding wherever you bid.
How Social Value Is Measured: TOMs
To score social value consistently, most UK buyers use the National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures) framework. TOMs converts commitments into a proxy financial value — so "10 local apprenticeships" or "£200k of spend with local SMEs" becomes a comparable number an evaluator can score and later hold you to. If a tender references TOMs or the Social Value Portal, your response should map directly onto the specific measures listed, with quantified commitments against each.
Why Most Social Value Responses Lose Marks
The common failures are predictable, and every one is avoidable:
- Generic statements of intent ("we are committed to the community") with no specific, measurable actions
- Commitments with no numbers or timescales — evaluators can't score "we will support local employment"
- Answers disconnected from the contract's actual location and the people it serves
- No plan to deliver or monitor the commitments, so they read as empty promises
- Over-promising to win, which creates delivery and reputational risk once the contract starts
How to Write a Social Value Response That Scores
Strong social value answers share a structure. Address the exact themes and measures the buyer has published — do not import a generic template. For each, make a concrete, measurable commitment: the number, the timescale, and where it lands (e.g. "four apprenticeships in [local area] within the first 12 months"). Explain how you will deliver and monitor it, name who is accountable, and show how it connects to the community the contract serves. Then, crucially, commit only to what you can actually deliver — evaluators reward credibility, and your commitments become contractual once you win. Read our full social value bid writing guide for the theme-by-theme detail.
Make Social Value a Reusable Asset
Because the themes recur across bids, social value is a perfect candidate for a bid library. Build a store of your evidenced commitments, delivery approaches and past outcomes — local employment schemes, apprenticeship partnerships, carbon reduction measures, SME supply-chain spend — and reuse them, tailored to each contract's location and measures. That way every bid starts from your strongest, real evidence rather than a blank page. BidWriter drafts social value responses from your profile and library against the marking scheme, so you spend your time tailoring commitments to the buyer rather than writing from scratch.
Social value is no longer the soft section at the end of the bid — it is 10–20% of the score and frequently decisive. Treat it with the same rigour as your technical response and it becomes a genuine competitive advantage. Try BidWriter free — no card needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is social value in UK procurement?
Social value is the wider economic, social and environmental benefit a contract delivers beyond the core goods or service — local employment, skills and apprenticeships, supporting SMEs and VCSEs in the supply chain, reducing carbon, and community wellbeing. UK public sector buyers are required to consider it when awarding contracts.
What is PPN 06/20 and the Social Value Model?
Procurement Policy Note 06/20 introduced the Social Value Model for central government, requiring a minimum 10% of the total score to be allocated to social value. It sets out themes and policy outcomes (Covid recovery, tackling economic inequality, fighting climate change, equal opportunity, wellbeing) that buyers pick from. Many wider public sector bodies apply the same model or a close variant.
What are TOMs?
The National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures) framework, from the Social Value Portal, is the most widely used way to measure social value in the UK. It converts commitments (e.g. local jobs, apprenticeships, spend with SMEs) into a proxy financial value, so bids can be scored consistently and delivery tracked.
How much is social value usually worth in a bid?
Under PPN 06/20 it is at least 10% of the total score for central government, and many local authority and NHS tenders weight it between 10% and 20%. On a closely fought bid that is often enough to decide the outcome, so it should never be treated as an afterthought.
How do I write a social value response that scores?
Answer the specific themes and measures the buyer has published, commit to concrete and measurable actions (with numbers and timescales), tie them to the local area the contract serves, evidence how you will deliver and monitor them, and only promise what you can actually deliver — evaluators mark specificity and credibility, not good intentions.