Report calls for ‘Making Public Spending Digital’ procurement overhaul


Think tank Demos has published a report calling for much greater use of technology and data in supporting public sector procurement, and enabling and measuring social value in buying processes

The government should set up a ‘Making Public Spending Digital programme to improve data on social value in procurement, the cross-party think tank Demos has said.

In a report urging ministers to review how government spends its £300bn public procurement budget, the think tank also calls for strengthen procurement legislation that formally requires public bodies to account for social value.

Demos’s latest report, Taming the Wild West: How technology can charter a new frontier for social value, called for a programme – similar to HM Revenue and Customs’ flagship Making Tax Digital programme to reform the tax system – to digitise public sector procurement data and make collection of data from businesses easier and faster.

It also endorsed Labour proposals for a new Social Value Council which, the report said, should call on technology providers to help with elements of the programme and set up a Trusted Social Value Data Taskforce, made up of public bodies, social value practitioners and technology providers.

The council should use this task force to standardise the measurement of social value data and encourage tech innovations, using a series of working groups to achieve specific aims, Demos said.

One such aim should be to develop a social value methodology that sets out best practice for how public bodies and businesses should measure their social, economic and environmental impact, the think tank said.

Another aim would be to build on plans set out by the previous government to create a centralised, publicly available digital platform that brings together information on public procurement contracts. This should include information on social value, the report said.


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The task force should also set guidance for any tech providers looking to build tools or software to help measure social value through a Social Value Code, the think tank said. The code should cover transparency criteria for how providers calculate their impact, the regularity by which their data is updated, and sources of information.

Much of the report focuses on the need for better data to enable public bodies to achieve their social-value goals.

Anne Godfrey, chief executive of GS1 UK, which carried out the project in partnership with Demos, wrote in the foreword to the report: “Too often, we see a myriad of different reporting metrics, statements and policies, resulting in a confusing landscape that leaves governments and consumers asking the question – ‘are we really getting the social value that’s being claimed?’”

The Trusted Social Value Data Taskforce could also work to develop innovative technological tools that will help to measure, monitor or report on social value, Demos said. This could include software that enables the tracking of the social value of a product or service, and for consumers and buyers to monitor how the product or service is doing on social value.

The report also recommends setting up a Social Value Tech Hub to share information on the strategies used by central government, regional authorities and local authorities in a central database. It should commission annual reviews on the progress of social value based on analysis of this data, and set out any areas where more data is needed, Demos suggested.

Technology is a “crucial tool” for enabling transparency around social value, and an “opportunity that the UK cannot afford to miss”, the report said.

“Data enables taxpayers to see how public money is being spent, consumers and investors to see how products and services are delivering social value, contractors to evaluate how bidders are delivering against their promises, and the government to track progress on social value as a country – which it is currently unable to do. Without establishing an accurate picture of the social value landscape, we will not be able to advance the agenda in a targeted way.”

Beckie Smith

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