New Social Value Policy will deliver benefits for communities in Liverpool

Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet has given the green light to a new policy aimed at ensuring contracts with businesses yield significant benefits for local communities. This Social Value Commissioning and Procurement Policy is crafted to generate positive outcomes across social, economic, environmental, and cultural dimensions through the Council’s expenditure and contractual agreements.

Key objectives of the policy encompass a broad range of community-focused goals. These include creating more employment, apprenticeships, and skills development opportunities for local residents, alongside fostering fair and inclusive workplace practices that address inequalities and provide tailored support for underrepresented groups. The policy also seeks to promote community growth, regeneration, and investment, especially by enhancing backing for local Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprise (VCSE) organizations. Furthermore, it aims to contribute to making Liverpool cleaner and greener through better green spaces, increased biodiversity, and lowering carbon emissions and pollution. Strengthening equality, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism efforts within communities and workplaces forms another vital pillar of this initiative.

The development of this policy involved thorough consultation with a range of stakeholders, including local, regional, and national businesses, as well as significant input from the local VCSE sector. Its introduction is expected to bring greater consistency, improve governance, and embed social value more concretely into the Council’s commissioning and procurement processes. Beginning in April, the Council will embark on a phased, three-year rollout of the policy. This will be supported by new tools, guidance, resources, and training designed for Council officers, suppliers bidding for contracts, and existing suppliers, all aimed at enhancing their ability to apply social value principles effectively and report on their delivery.

Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Transformation, Cllr Ruth Bennett, highlighted the significance of the initiative by noting, “We spend approximately £860 million on goods, services and works that support the everyday lives of people and communities across Liverpool, and the new policy will ensure this spending delivers greater and more meaningful benefits for the city.” She added, “The policy is designed to ensure the Council’s public spending works harder for Liverpool, strengthening neighbourhoods, improving opportunities and delivering greater value for money.”

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