The minister for civil society has announced that there will be another review of the Social Value Act.
Speaking at Social Enterprise UK’s Social Value Summit earlier this week, Rob Wilson said that a review will be looking at the next stage for the act and will involve roundtable discussions with “those leading the way on social value”.
Wilson said: “The Social Value Act all gives us an opportunity to collectively make things better. It gives public sector organisations the chance to achieve so much more with tax payers’ money.”
He added: “Sometimes they, and commissioners, need a bit of help so we want to work with you to explore the next phase of implementing the Social Value Act and deliver even more benefit.
“My priority is two-fold, first a public sector that is a catalyst for innovation and gets much more social-impact for every single pound that we spend. Second, a small charity and social enterprise sector that is thriving, competing effectively and being recognised for the additional benefits and huge impact that they both deliver.”
“Government is playing its part by changing the way public services are delivered, which is why shortly I will review the process of the Social Value Act starting with a round-table to learn from those of you who are already leaving the way. I want to really know what is working well, and what more we can do to improve the impact we can make.”
Collaborate and work
A spokeswoman from the department for culture media and sport, which is home to the office for civil society, told Civil Society News that the review will consider progress since Lord Young’s Review in 2015.
She said: “We want to work with innovators and leaders in social value to understand recent developments in practice and activity. This will help us understand what is working and what more we can do. We want to collaborate and work with our partners to define the next phase of implementing the Social Value Act.”
She said that the roundtable will hear from those “leading the way on social value across sectors - from civil society, business and the public sector”.
She said that Office for Civil Society’s work on social value is on-going, and forms an “integral part” of its public services programme which was announced by the minister before Christmas, and that “reviewing progress and looking at what more can be done to realise the ambition of the social value act is the next step”
Paul Winyard, policy officer at NCVO, has written a blog post on the announcement of the review. He said that NCVO welcomes it, but reiterating calls for a combination of statutory guidance, training and amendments to the Act.
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