How to Answer Social Value Questions in Tenders

Social value is one of the most heavily weighted parts of a public sector bid, and one of the most poorly answered. A vague promise to "support the local community" scores little. A specific, measurable commitment tied to the buyer's chosen themes scores well.

For central government, the model now sits in PPN 002, published in February 2025 and mandatory for in-scope procurements from 1 October 2025. It updated and replaced the earlier Social Value Model under PPN 06/20.

This guide explains the weighting, the themes, and how to write answers that evaluators can score.

The Weighting

Central government social value is given a minimum weighting in the evaluation. A figure of around 10 percent of the total score is common, though buyers can set it higher. At that level, social value frequently decides the result between two close bids, so it is worth the same care as your technical and pricing responses.

The PPN 002 Social Value Model

The model groups outcomes under broad themes aligned to the government's missions, covering areas such as economic growth and opportunity, tackling climate change and environmental impact, and building healthier, safer and more equal communities. A tender selects the themes and outcomes most relevant to the contract and asks bidders to respond to those.

The important point is that you respond to the themes the buyer has chosen, not the ones you would prefer to talk about. Read the social value question carefully and map your answer to the specific outcomes it references.

Writing Answers Evaluators Can Score

1. Be Specific and Measurable

Replace "we will support local employment" with "we will create two apprenticeships and recruit three staff from within the contract area within the first year". Numbers, timescales and locations let an evaluator award marks.

2. Make Commitments Additional

Social value should be additional to what you would do anyway and additional to delivering the contract itself. Describe what the contract specifically enables, not your general corporate activity.

3. Show How You Will Deliver and Measure

State who is responsible, how you will track progress, and what evidence you will report. A commitment with a named owner and a measurement method is more credible than a bare promise.

4. Provide Proportionate Evidence

Reference past delivery where you have it, but keep it relevant to the scale of this contract. Evaluators accept case studies, data and named partnerships.

Common Mistakes

• Answering generic themes instead of the outcomes the buyer selected.
• Vague commitments with no numbers, dates or locations.
• Describing existing corporate social responsibility rather than additional value.
• Promises with no named owner or measurement method.
• Over-promising commitments you cannot evidence in delivery.

How Policy Pros Can Help

We write social value responses that map to the buyer's chosen PPN 002 themes and turn intentions into measurable, scoreable commitments. Our tender and proposal support service handles the social value answer as part of the full bid.

For the documents that sit behind credible commitments, our ESG documents service and environmental policies give you the policies and evidence base evaluators look for.

To see how social value fits the wider bid, read our guide to documents needed for public sector tenders.