Government Publishes Revised Social Value Model
August 05, 2026Posted by:
On 5 August 2026, the government published PPN 026, a revised Social Value Model for central government procurement. It is a significant change for any organisation bidding into the public sector, and it puts the focus squarely on the work PeoplePlus has been delivering for years.
The new model streamlines social value around two outcomes, good jobs and skills, supported by six award criteria. It is designed to prioritise jobs, skills, and opportunities for people facing barriers to employment within local communities, with particular emphasis on young people. First Secretary of State Louise Haigh said the £90 billion spent each year through government contracts should support "British jobs, skills and people in every postcode".
The weighting given to social value has also increased. For contracts worth £5m or more, the minimum social value weighting doubles from 10% to 20%. Contracts between £1m and £5m keep a minimum 10% weighting, and the threshold has been raised so that smaller firms and local social enterprises are not typically caught by the requirement. The changes apply to central government procurements that commence on or after 1 January 2027, with detailed technical guidance due this autumn.
For PeoplePlus, this is what we are already doing - working with employers to recruit differently, opening up good jobs to people the labour market too often overlooks and helping build the skills that keep them in work. We have never done this alone. Through the Social Recruitment Framework and the Social Recruitment Advocacy Group, which we founded and chair, we have brought employers and partners together around exactly the vision this model now sets out. The Social Recruitment Covenant, the national pledge to inclusive hiring, extends that same commitment further still. Alongside this sits our wider delivery in employability and prison education, including programmes such as the Restart Scheme, Fair Start Scotland, Jobs Growth Wales+ and Connect to Work.
A model that rewards genuine job creation, training and work experience, and that measures whether those commitments are actually delivered, is a model built around the outcomes our collective approach produces. We welcome it.
We also want to help get the detail right. As the government develops its accompanying guidance this autumn, we look forward to working with the Cabinet Office to share what we have learned about turning social value commitments into real jobs, in real places, for real people.
Full press release here Government orders that public spending must back British jobs and skills in every postcode - GOV.UK
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August 05, 2026Posted by:
