Social Value Bid Evaluation guidance
Contents
1.0 Bradford Council’s Social Value Criteria
This section is to provide guidance on the criteria for social value in line with Bradford Council’s Social Value Policy.
1.1 Mandatory Social Value
Requirements as per policy criteria:
- Social value will be mandatory in all contracts £100,000 and over.
- For those under £100,000 social value will be recommended but optional.
- All contracts over £100,000 are required to include at least one ‘Employment and Skills’ (e.g. apprenticeships, work placements and work experience) related measure. Should this not prove viable for a particular contract, approval from Council leadership will be required for it to be disregarde.
Commissioners and procurers must adhere to the thresholds as outlined above for the application of social value.
‘Employment and Skills’ related measures are identified within the Bradford Council Social Value Measures and Guidance document. Should this not prove viable for a particular contract, approval from Council leadership is managed by the Head of Procurement and must be gained in writing.
1.2 Measures
Requirements as per policy criteria:
- From the list of measures commissioners and procurers will provide bidders with a shortlist of measures for suppliers to respond to in their tenders. These should be chosen as those most relevant to the nature of the contract.
Commissioners and procurers must select up to six measures (no more) for suppliers to respond to in their tenders.
When choosing the measures please consider:
- What is most relevant to the nature of the contract
- What is most relevant for the location of the contract (specific local area/cross District)
- What is realistically achievable to the nature of the contract - bear in mind the value of the
contract, the geographical location of potential suppliers, the service/products being sought from the contract and the nature of potential suppliers (size of organisation, skills/expertise of the organisation).
E.g: it is suggested that the higher the value of the contract the more measures will need to be applied to ensure maximum social value is achieved. Conversely a small value contract may only require one measure.
The Bradford Council Social Value Measures and Guidance document provides further information on each of the measures. Please refer to this to help you choose which measures are most suitable.
This includes:
- General comments and measure description.
- The social impact value (financial value to society) and relevant units.
- Notes on how each measure will be evaluated.
- Delivery partner(s) who can support your winning supplier with undertaking their social value commitments – please ensure connections are made with these partners, as this will ensure activities are best placed to meet our District’s strategic needs and therefore have maximum impact.
- Examples and case studies of activities – this will aim to trigger ideas of the types of social value activities that can be undertaken.
In certain scenarios the Contact Manager may choose to pre-determine the number of quantitative
units for their chosen measure(s). In this case this information would be provided to bidders in the
Excel document (see section 2), for them to complete the years over which the provided ‘units’
would be delivered.
1.3 Social Value Weightings
Requirements as per policy criteria:
- Social value will make up a minimum 10% of the overall contract evaluation weighting, as part of the quality score.
- This weighting of 10% may be reduced in certain circumstances with the approval of Council leadership.
- Where appropriate to the contract a higher weighting could be applied.
- Social value commitments will be assessed from both a quantitative (financial value) and qualitative (delivery) perspective.
The social value element of a tender will hold meaningful weightings to enable it to be a differentiating factor when evaluating bids.
Social value will be scored as part of the ‘Quality’ element of a bid and split between two responses (quantitative and qualitative). The recommended sub-weighting of social value is:
| Criteria | Social Value sub-weighting |
|---|---|
| Quantitative | 4% |
| Qualitative | 4% |
The two scores produced are combined to give an overall score for a bidder’s social value response, of a minimum of 10% of the overall evaluation weighting.
Conditions on the scoring of the social value return can be found in 3.4.
Best Practise
Where there is greater capability from a particular sector to fulfil greater social value returns, the social value weighting ought to be increased to up to 20%.
For example, this higher score is the norm in the construction sector and should therefore
be considered, to enable greater investment in our district.
2.0 Tender documents
Commissioners and procurers must prepare the following tender documents to ensure a suitable social value response.
- Quantitative Evaluation (see accompanying Excel document)
An Excel document that captures a ‘quantitative value’ for social value from bidders. This is appended to tender documents for completion by the Council’s contract manager and bidders.
Best Practise
- The Contract Manager should amend the Excel document and remove the years that are not relevant (based on the length of the contract) to avoid confusion to bidders at the time of going out to market.
- The Contract Manager should pre-populate the Excel document with the associated measure references selected for the contract and add any recommendations (optional – this could be stipulate an area of the district where social value is expected to be delivered).
Bidders are expected to provide the number of units for each of the measures that they wish to commit to for the term of the contract.
The Excel document is restricted:
- Contract Managers should only access the necessary cells to select the measures and add any optional recommendations (blue highlight)
- Bidders should only access the necessary cells to input the units for each of the selected measures for the term of the contract (yellow highlight).
Exception: In some cases, Contract Managers may choose to pre-determine the number of ‘units’ for their chosen measure(s). In this case the Contract Manager needs to ensure that the number of units is realistic and achievable by likely bidders. It would therefore be expected that bidders meet the outlined units, meaning that the evaluation would be scored solely on the qualitative response.
Qualitative Evaluation
A section appears in the tender submission document which captures a ‘qualitative response’ for social value from bidders.
Best Practise
- The Contract Manager should pre-populate this section with the associated measure (TOM) reference selected for the contract.
Bidders are expected to provide additional specific details on the social value that will be created on a contract. The qualitative response is expected to contain as best practice:
- Where the social value commitments being made will be delivered, and the targeted community / beneficiaries that will benefit.
- What local delivery partners (name, postcode) will be involved in the delivery of the social value and to what extent the bidder has engaged with them.
- How the social value will provide a legacy to Bradford District.
- A delivery timeline on how the bidder intends to deliver the social value commitment(s), broken down by each year of the contract.
Bidders have a 250 free type word limit for their response per measure (TOMs) selected for the
contract.
3.0 Evaluating Social Value
This section is to provide guidance on the evaluation steps of a bidder’s submission.
3.1 Quantitative Steps
(please refer to the Quantitative Social Value Submission Excel document)
3.1.1 Validation of units
In the Excel document bidders are required to insert the number of units for each of the measures (TOMs) they wish to commit to for the term of the contract.
Evaluators should do an initial check to validate the units:
- Check the units are compliant with the guidance and methodology.
- Check the bidder has entered units for each of the contract years (if applicable).
- Check the units are proportional in line with the duration and value of the contract.
- Check for double counting. It is important that bidders only claim social value once.
- Check the units do not overlap with the core contract (social value is in addition). A
supplier cannot commit to something they already do. Social Value is about additionality,
in addition to the core contract requirements, or normal industry standards. It must also
be specific to that contract, meaning the supplier wouldn’t be doing it had they not won
the contract. - Check the bidder has completed the corresponding qualitative outline in the tender
submission document.
3.1.2 Quantitative Scoring Matrix (including worked example)
The Excel document will automatically calculate the total ‘Quantitative Impact Value’ of a bidder’s response, based on the overall units committed to (broken down by year of the contract).
The evaluation score is calculated based on the social impact value score of all measures from the bidder’s social value offer (information on the measures is available in section 1.2).
Social impact values: the impact values are simple monetary figures that show the positive impact created through a supplier’s social, economic and environmental actions. They are not the costs to organisations but estimates of the difference these actions make for communities.
The values are based on UK research and government data, developed by experts, and calculated using methods such as wellbeing valuation, cost savings to public services, and long-term impact modelling. By being standardised, they allow impact to be measured consistently across projects and help organisations clearly demonstrate the real value they create, rather than just reporting on their spend or activities delivered.
The bidder submitting the highest social value offer will be allocated 100% of the defined weighting for this section. All other bidders will be scored in relation to the highest social value offer as per the methodology outlined below:
Scoring principle:
Bidder’s total social value proposed/ highest bidder’s social value proposed x 4*
*Percentage criterion may change in line with procurement (example set for 4%)
A worked example based on the allocation of 4% for the quantitative sub-criteria:
- Bidder 1 social value quantitative offer was the highest at £150,000. They would receive the maximum 4% available.
- Bidder 2 whose social value quantitative offer was second highest at £120,000 would score 3.2% (£120,000/£150,000 x 4%)
- Bidder 3 whose social value quantitative offer was third highest at £90,000 would score 2.4% (£90,000k/£150,000 x 4%)
3.2 Qualitative Steps
3.2.1 Validation of statements
In the relevant section of the tender submission document bidders are required to demonstrate how each of the unit measures submitted will be delivered.
Evaluators should do an initial check to validate the response:
- Check the response is compliant with the guidance and methodology e.g. word count.
- Check the bidder has entered a response for each measure (TOM) reference.
- Check the bidder has completed the corresponding Excel document.
3.2.2 Qualitative Scoring Matrix
The tender submission document ‘social value qualitative’ section, allows bidders to demonstrate the qualitative response by providing additional specific details on the social value that will be created on a contract.
The response should be evaluated as a whole and scored as per the methodology outlined
below:
| Score | Percentage of total allocation | Judgement | Descriptor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 100% | Excellent |
Exceeds the requirement. The response demonstrates:
|
| 4 | 80% | Good |
Satisfies the requirement with good clarity. The response demonstrates:
|
| 3 | 60% | Satisfactory |
Satisfies the requirement. The response demonstrates:
|
| 2 | 40% | Reservations |
Some reservations. The response demonstrates:
|
| 1 | 20% | Poor |
Significant reservations. The response demonstrates:
|
| 0 | 0% | Unacceptable |
Does not meet the requirement or comply. The response:
|
As outlined in accompanying guidance, the default area for the term ‘local’ is defined as the boundary of Braford District (and not beyond). However, where a contract is being delivered in a particular area of the District, social value activities can be required to be focused in that area (this can be specified in the Quantitative Social Value Submission spreadsheet).
A worked example of scoring based on the allocation of 6% for the qualitative sub-criteria:
- Bidder 1 social value qualitative offer scored 5. They would receive the maximum 6%
available. - Bidder 2 social value qualitative offer scored 2. They would receive 2.4%.
- Bidder 3 social value qualitative offer scored 0. They would receive 0%.
To prevent potential misunderstanding, a worked example is not available for the qualitative response. This is because a worked example cannot cover the breadth of the measures and depict the detail of the ever-changing delivery landscape. To support evaluators, please refer to the Evaluation Notes that are available within the Bradford Council Social Value Measures & Guidance document that provide specific detail relating to each measure.
3.3 Clarifications
Clarifications can be sought from bidders to clarify quantitative and qualitative social value submissions. However, these clarifications should not enhance the bidder’s response and should only be used to validate the response.
Acceptable clarification example:
In relation to your quantitative response for [Measure ref], you have left the year 1 cell empty.
Please note this measure needs a numerical response. Therefore, this will be amended to 0, please confirm if you agree to this amendment.
Unacceptable clarification example:
In relation to your qualitative response for [Measure Ref], little detail has been provided in relation to the legacy brought to Bradford District. Can you please provide more detail on this.
Following clarifications, the bidder must agree to any changes made to their submission. An updated version of the bidders submission should be sent to the bidder for confirmation that they accept the changes. A deadline date should be set for responses to the clarifications, and bidders should be made aware that failure to read and respond to the message will result in the exclusion of the social value element from their overall weighted criteria.
3.4 Conditions
- A social value response is to be fully discounted if both the quantitative and qualitative entries
are not completed or submitted. This will lead to an automatic score of 0% of the total available for social value. - An element of a social value response is to be discounted if the response omits a complete social value offer (quantitative and qualitative) against each selected measure (see example below).
- The social value response must relate directly to the contract in question and should be proportional to the overall contract value.
Example -
If a bidder completes the quantitative element but fails to provide a qualitative response, then the
corresponding measure unit(s) should not be included in the evaluation of the quantitative score.
In these instances, a revised bidder’s quantitative entry should be adjusted and a 0 should be entered in the unit’s column for the applicable measure(s). A clarification message should be issued notifying the bidder:
‘The Council will be unable to accept the measure [REF] put forward as no information has been given in the qualitative submission of how the measure(s) will be achieved.’
This ensures transparency and informs the bidder that the units within their quantitative entry will not be evaluated.
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