Social Value Policy - Introduction
South Ribble Borough Council has a vision of ‘a healthy and happy community, flourishing together in a safer and fairer borough that is led by a council recognised for being innovative, financially sustainable and accountable.’
This vision aims to address a number of key challenges faced by the borough. Whilst South Ribble is relatively affluent, there are still pockets of deprivation within certain neighborhoods, some of which fall within the 10% of most deprived areas nationally. Employment is high across the authority in comparison to other areas in Lancashire, but factors such as health disabilities and income deprivation impact many of our residents. The borough also faces greater than average carbon dioxide emissions, partly due to the impact of local transport links.
The council has already delivered a number of projects and initiatives to help tackle these challenges and empower communities at a local level, such as delivering a credit union, becoming a living wage employer, and developing a Community Hub approach to neighborhood working which engages communities in decision making linked to the priorities of local areas.
South Ribble Borough Council recognises the important role it can play in enabling Social Value through procurement activity and embedding this as part of the key decision-making process at the council. The introduction of this Social Value Policy will contribute to the current successes of South Ribble and will support plans to address key challenges, particularly in relation to engaging communities, supporting the local economy and promoting environmental sustainability.
The aim of this policy is to set out our approach to social value and how we will integrate economic, environmental and social responsibility into our procurement processes.