As you may know, a minimum 10% weighting re net zero and social value now applies to all NHS procurement contracts, based on the government’s Social Value Model (Procurement Policy Note 06/20). 

New guidance on how to embed net zero and social value throughout the procurement lifecycle is available from NHSE/I.  Developed with input from NHS procurement professionals, Net Zero and Social Value guidance was created by NHSE/I’s Sustainable Procurement Team and particularly focusses on the pre-procurement stage. 

A series of drop-in sessions on net zero and social value, along with resources, including training information, case studies and events, can be found on the social value pages at FutureNHS, which all NHS staff can access, once registered for login. 

More information is available by subscribing to NHSE/I’s Procurement Transformation bulletin or by following NHS Procurement Transformation on LinkedIn. 

When incorporated effectively, social value in procurement should help to reduce health inequalities, drive better environmental performance and deliver even more value.  The government has identified five main social value themes: 

• Fighting climate change
• COVID-19 recovery
• Tackling economic inequality
• Equal opportunity
• Wellbeing

More than 60% of the NHS carbon footprint is based within the NHS supply chain.  This means NHS procurement has a vital role to fulfil in reducing harmful carbon emissions and meeting the NHS’s commitment to reach net zero by 2045.