The Innovation Lab - Social Value through Public Procurement

Background:

DoF were responsible for developing a Social Value through Public Procure policy in order to maximise value in public spending. However, some commissioners of procured services missed opportunities to secure both the best price and meet the wider social, economic and environmental needs of the community. The iLab worked directly to the DoF Minister in seeking consensus amongst Private and Public stakeholders on Social Value through public procurement.

The primary objective that the iLab sought to deliver was achieving consensus on contractual social value targets, capacity and expertise within organisations to take advantage of procurement opportunities and to facilitate solutions from stakeholders directly seeking a co-designed approach to future policy commitments.

What did we do?

The work of the iLab started with a landscape review of social value in procurement across other jurisdictions. The findings of which we fed into facilitated discussions within an Insights Programme format with private companies and the third sector and we sought agreement through negotiation on value targets, policy direction and timeframes for implementation.

What was the outcome?

The iLab was successful in designing and delivering an Insights Programme that established baselines on Social Value targets, timeframes and ensured the voices of both the public and private sectors were heard and ensured that the components of the policy were co-created with all parties a part of the journey. The Dept. was able to progress and deliver on a NI Executive commitment to develop this policy and bring the primary sectors along with them.