At the National Social Value Conference, Lorraine Cox from Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Rochdale Council’s STAR Procurement service was awarded a Highly Commended Award for Leadership in Social Value.
Lorraine has led innovative changes to how Social Value is embedded in procurement across the STAR authorities. STAR Procurement launched their campaign ‘Social Value is Everyone’s Business’ in March 2019 and started using the Social Value Portal in April 2019 and the National TOMs.
The Social Value Portal is a website tool that enables STAR authorities to capture, evaluate and monitor social value through procurements and contracts. Since the launch, the outcomes have far exceeded expectations:
- 55% of tenders awarded have been to Greater Manchester businesses
- Of the £78m contract values through the Portal, £21.6m of committed social value has been secured, showing a return of 28%
- 37% of bidders are local to Greater Manchester
On winning her Leadership in Social Value award, Lorraine said:
I am delighted to be awarded a ‘Highly Commended’ award at the National Social Value Conference. Our amazing outcomes would not have been possible without the STAR Team, support from STAR Board and Joint Committee, and all our commissioners, stakeholders and local businesses, who have all embraced our new approach. The award shows that what we are delivering locally is far exceeding what is being done elsewhere in the UK and we are pioneering an approach which has international interest from as far afield as Canada and Australia.”