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The UK government's social value changes

Government changes to social value procurement

The government has recently announced changes to the way it spends money on goods and services to create social value. Read the full story on our website.
Alongside some good (doubling the social value weighting to 20% on contracts of £5 million or more) there are some concerning aspects (a new £1 million threshold below which social value requirements no longer apply).

Government has said it will publish technical guidance in autumn 2026 ahead of implementation in January 2027, and has left the door open for further evidence, which is why we need to hear what you think.
SEUK will use responses from this survey to form a set of recommendations for the UK government while the technical guidance is still being finalised.
Section 1: About you
1.What is the name of your organisation?
2.What kind of organisation do you represent?
3.Do you currently bid for, or deliver, public sector contracts?
4.What size of contract do you typically bid for or deliver?
Section 2: SEUK's current asks
SEUK is asking government to:
  1. Reinstate supply chain diversity and VCSE participation as a scored outcome;
  2. Require subcontracting transparency so buyers can see where social value spend actually happens;
  3. Require independent verification of KPIs rather than self-reporting by contractors;
  4. Having removed social value weighting for contracts of £1m or less, make all these contracts available to SMEs and VCSEs first.
5.How important is each of these to you?
1 (not important)
2
3
4
5 (essential)
reinstating supply chain diversity
subcontracting transparency
independent KPI verification
£1m or less contracts offered to VCSEs and SMEs first
6.Do you have an example — a bid you won or lost, a subcontracting experience, or a contract you couldn't pursue — that illustrates why one of these matters?
Section 3: Beyond the current asks
7.Should “social value” be defined more broadly than jobs and skills — for example to include environmental impact, wider community benefit, or co-designing what “local benefit” means with local communities?
8.Is there a recommendation we haven't made that you think government should hear?
Section 4: Staying involved
9.Can we quote you or your organisation in the recommendations document, or in follow-up conversations with government?
10.What is your email address? We'd like to keep you informed about the recommendations we submit to government.
Thank you for completing this survey. Your answers will help shape what SEUK asks government for this autumn. We'll publish the final recommendations to members and stakeholders once they've been submitted.