NI Water is inviting interested suppliers to register for a hybrid Social Value event it is holding in conjunction with the Social Value Unit at the Strategic Investment Board on 30^th June.

In the summer of 2021, Finance Minister Conor Murphy announced that policy within public procurement is changing - from 1st June 2022 public procurement will no longer solely award contracts based on cost and quality but tenders (above threshold) must allocate a minimum of 10% to social value. This will apply to service contracts valued above £123,000 and construction contracts valued above £4.7million.

The Social Value Unit advise the public sector on including social value in public sector contracts. It does this by helping public bodies to design, implement and monitor social value that is included in their contracts, for example, employment opportunities, to disadvantaged groups, ethical supply chains and environmental issues.

Prior to 2019, social value was primarily achieved through contract performance clauses, through the Buy Social approach. For example, Targeted Recruitment and Training (TR&T) clauses require contractors to allocate a proportion of the total employment on a contract to people who are disadvantaged in the labour market.

Since 2019, the Social Value Unit has developed other social considerations and has drafted new guidance for their use. The new approaches include:

• work placements for people facing disadvantage;
• skills development for existing employees;
• opportunities for Social Enterprises/SME’s in the supply chain;
• initiatives which encourage fair work practices;
• business in education activities; and
• digital inclusion activities.

NI Water and the Social Value Unit at are hosting the hybrid Social Value Supplier Engagement session to help the supply chain understand this further on Thursday 30th June 2022 - click here to access the PIN.