Further to our communication in October 2021, Social Value Portal has launched its official Social Value guidance and measurement framework specific to the Higher Education (HE) sector. Helping HE bodies to capture, communicate and emphasise the full value of activities where they support their local economy and community, it also empowers and informs organisations so that embedding Social Value when procuring goods and services is a simpler process.

This includes initiatives such as;

• helping people into employment,
• using local suppliers,
• actively promoting opportunities for disadvantaged groups, or
• making sure that the organisation is operating in as sustainable a way as possible.  

The guidance has been created in partnership by Social Value Portal, and UKUPC and some of its member institutions, who formed a 17 strong HE Social Value Taskforce in 2021 in recognition of the challenges faced by HE bodies when introducing Social Value into procurement. The Taskforce’s brief was to create a simple, robust and workable measurement framework specifically tailored to the HE sector. 

For the background to the HE TOMs and where to start, download this UKUPC document, and for full information on how to apply the TOMs in practice and a 7-Step approach to integrating Social Value into procurement, download Social Value Portal's free copy of the Higher Education TOMs guidance.