Social Value in Construction 2023 Preview Report
Since 2020, we have produced an annual Social Value in Construction Benchmarking Report for the UK construction sector, undertaken jointly with Social Value Portal, which has rapidly become the definitive review of social value in public sector construction projects. The 2023 edition will be published in June 2023, with data and analysis for the whole of 2022.
Ahead of the release of this report, we have released an exclusive preview presenting a snapshot of social value delivery across the UK for the first six months of 2022. The research reveals that the construction industry delivered £1.09bn of social and local economic value, providing a 30.33% return on investment.
520 construction contracts ranging from £12k to £130m, with a combined total value of £3.6bn, were analysed to establish the scale and scope of social value delivery across the UK.
The findings show that return on investment is up at 30.33% compared to 19.55% last year. This trend suggests that the construction industry is committed to bringing about positive social change through projects, which in turn is having a tangible impact on people’s lives.
What is Social Value?
Social Value is the creation of supportive environmental, economic, and social wellbeing through buildings, places, and infrastructure that improves the quality of life.
Social Value policy (The Social Value Act 2012) ‘requires the public sector to ensure the money it spends on services creates the greatest economic, social and environmental value for local communities.’
But at SCAPE, social value is not just about compliance. For us, it is integral to our procurement approach, and we believe that every project should provide a strong, sustainable legacy for the community, economy, local businesses and environment.
We work with Social Value Portal to measure social value using the National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes, and Measures) standardised framework, alongside KPIs.
“For publicly funded projects, improvement of the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of the relevant area is an important procurement consideration. We undertake the annual benchmarking report with Social Value Portal as a vital investment in measuring success, helping organisations to understand what is being achieved today and what can be achieved in the future. “The figures in this preview report are impressive considering they only represent the first half of 2022 – we look forward to seeing the full picture when the annual report is published in June 2023.”
Alison Ramsey
Social Value and Performance Manager at SCAPE
Key findings from the Social Value in Construction Preview Report
- From the first six months of 2022, there is a 30.33% return on investment. Representing an increase from last year’s figure of 19.55%.
- Almost £1.09bn of social and local economic value added was generated from 520 construction projects.