Let’s wake the sleeping giant of social change: procurement

When the Social Value Act was introduced in 2012, places across England were invited to test how it could work in practice. Halton, in north west England, became one of 12 national pilot sites in a Department of Health-funded programme delivered by Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) and the Institute for Voluntary Action Research (IVAR) – and I wrote the submission that secured our involvement. Although the Act (popularly known as the Social Value Act) itself focused on procurement, our early conversations in Halton quickly opened up wider questions about how social value could support broader system change and strengthen the wellbeing of people and places.

That exploratory spirit was characteristic of the early phase of social value’s evolution. It created space for people to ask bigger questions about how public money might support long-term outcomes for people, places and the environment. 

But as pressures on public services intensified and national practice matured, social value increasingly came to be interpreted through procedural requirements and monetised measures. The ambition itself hasn’t disappeared, but its expression has narrowed. When a promising idea is channelled mainly through processes, its broader potential can slip from view.

This is the backdrop to my new policy brief, Valuing What Matters, published by the Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub at City-REDI, University of Birmingham. The brief argues that reviving that earlier sense of possibility is essential if social value is to help rebuild trust, legitimacy and long-term wellbeing across systems. Reclaiming that purpose requires a shift not just in policy, but in imagination.

Social value has grown stronger technically – and weaker strategically

Spend any time with social enterprises, community organisations or frontline providers, and you quickly notice a disconnection. Institutions have never collected more data about social value, but communities increasingly struggle to recognise themselves in the numbers.

Metrics, frameworks and monetised proxies have their place. They bring structure and accountability. But they cannot replace purpose. When the framework becomes the focus, the outcome becomes an afterthought.

A short while ago, I spoke with a group of parents who were dealing with spiralling challenges: health issues, insecure work, limited support. None of them talked about “social value outcomes”. They talked about safety, belonging, hope for their children. They talked about what they needed to feel seen. Not one of those needs appears naturally in a procurement dashboard.

We have professionalised the delivery of social value while de-personalising its meaning

This is the uncomfortable truth: we have professionalised the delivery of social value while de-personalising its meaning. If we want social value to mean something again, our evidence must evolve too, balancing financial accountability with equity, lived experience and long-term outcomes, not just monetised proxies. And if we don’t correct this drift, we risk losing sight of what made it powerful in the first place.

Stewardship is the missing operating system

The policy brief argues that social value now needs a different kind of leadership: not more rules, but a deeper commitment to stewardship.

Stewardship is the quiet, unfashionable work of tending to the long-term health of a system. It is patient, relational and honest about complexity. It recognises that trust is an asset, not a by-product. It situates power in partnership, not hierarchy. And it refuses to accept the false choice between financial efficiency and social purpose.

For too long, we have treated social value – the wider purpose of public investment – as a contractual supplement. Stewardship asks us to treat it as the North Star.

Around the world, a number of jurisdictions are experimenting with approaches that echo the broader ambition behind social value. In Scotland, for instance, Community Wealth Building is increasingly being woven into local economic strategies to retain wealth within communities and reduce inequalities. 

• Read more: Scottish government backs social enterprise to ‘influence and inspire’ new community wealth building push

In Wales, the Well-being of Future Generations Act provides a statutory framework that requires public bodies to pursue long-term wellbeing goals and act in ways that support social, environmental and economic sustainability. 

Across Europe, the European Union’s Horizon Europe “missions” demonstrate how mission-oriented innovation can align public investment with shared societal goals such as climate resilience and healthier communities. 

And in cities such as Paris, participatory budgeting provides a practical example of how citizens can shape spending priorities for community benefit. 

While the contexts differ, these developments collectively indicate a growing international appetite to move beyond transactional, compliance-driven models and towards more purpose-led, long-term stewardship.

Procurement is a sleeping giant – it’s time to wake it

Of all the levers available to public institutions, procurement remains the most misunderstood. We talk about it as if it were a technical exercise. In reality, it is one of the most powerful investment tools in a society.

Procurement shapes markets. Markets shape communities. And communities shape life chances.

That chain is obvious, yet we continue to treat procurement as a compliance function rather than a strategic one.

When procurement is used intentionally, it does more than secure a service on a timetable. It stabilises local enterprises. It creates pathways into good work. It anchors investment in places that have been historically neglected. It attracts mission-aligned finance. It creates the conditions for prevention, not crisis response.

Procurement’s potential is widely recognised, but it is still far from being used consistently as a strategic instrument. If social value is to matter, procurement cannot remain a back-office procedure. It must be recognised as a frontline instrument of social change.

Community voice must be part of governance, not a public relations exercise

One of the most striking lessons from meaningful community work is that people know what matters. They are experts in their own contexts. When their insights shape priorities, decisions become more grounded and more legitimate.

Yet participation is still too often treated as an accessory to decision-making rather than a foundation of it.

Citizens’ assemblies, participatory budgeting and lived-experience panels show what becomes possible when communities are not simply consulted but able to shape decisions directly. They reveal priorities that data alone cannot. They force systems to confront uncomfortable truths about inequality. And they strengthen the social contract at a time when trust in institutions is fragile.

If social value is to become a force for renewal, participation cannot sit at the edge. It must sit at the centre.

Governance must rediscover its sense of purpose

Systems change is not achieved by ambition alone. It is achieved by the structures we build to carry that ambition over time. Many public systems are still governed by short cycles, narrow incentives and risk-averse cultures. None of these conditions is conducive to long-term social value.

We need governance frameworks that can hold long-term missions – whether improving health equity, supporting inclusive local economies or strengthening community resilience.

That means aligning budgets with shared outcomes, developing cross-sector investment partnerships, and creating spaces where institutions, providers and citizens can learn and adapt together.

This is not administrative reform. It is moral infrastructure.

This is a moment to choose

We stand at a moment where systems are straining under unprecedented social, economic and environmental pressures. But this also means we have a rare opportunity: to remake the purpose of social value before it becomes too diluted to save.

If we choose stewardship over compliance, participation over consultation, investment over transactions, and purpose over process, social value can still deliver what it always had the potential to support – a fairer, more resilient future built with and for the people who have the most at stake.

There are already promising foundations to build on, from local partnerships experimenting with new approaches to national conversations about prevention, wellbeing and inclusive economies.

The question is not whether social value can transform systems. It is whether we will allow it to.

Mark Swift is the founder and CEO of Wellbeing Enterprises CIC, a healthcare social enterprise, and a fellow of the Heseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place at the University of Liverpool, and a Local Policy Innovation Partnership Fellow at City-REDI, University of Birmingham.

Header photo: The Mud Maid sculpture at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, by Loco Steve on Flickr, reproduced under a Creative Commons licence