1.0 Introduction
1.1 Overview
Social value is an umbrella term for capturing the full benefits that Seetec delivers for society – economically, environmentally and socially – over and above compliance or contractual commitments. At Seetec, social value is embedded in everything we do, and our aim is to boost opportunity and social value across the UK and Ireland.
1.2 Legislative context
While our approach to creating social value continues to evolve, it will always reflect the relevant social value legislation within the UK and Republic of Ireland which includes the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 (England), the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, the Well-being of Future Generations Act (Wales) 2015 and the Scoring Social Value Statement (Northern Ireland) 2021, as well as Ireland’s Circular 20/2019 and the Social Value Model (Central Government). Though we are not bound by the legislation, we are committed to putting value creation for all our stakeholders at the heart of our decision- making across our organisation.
2.0 Policy Implementation
2.1 Seetec’s Pledges
In January 2020 Seetec became employee-owned, giving us, its employees, the responsibility to guide our business and shape its future. From the outset of defining our social value strategy, colleagues were engaged and consulted to identify priority social, economic and environmental outcomes that we have the resource and capability to contribute to, through initiatives that matter most to us and our communities. Led by a non- executive director, with membership from our Employee Council, a Social Value Committee (SoVaCo) was established with the primary objective to identify tangible social value pledges to steer us in achieving our aim. Our Pledges were developed through a series of workshops held over a number of months, with employee voice from across the business, including both front-line staff and senior leaders.
Subsequently, the direction steered by our employee voice is one to be proud of:
| Communities | People | Sustainability |
| We pledge to support growth and build healthier, more resilient communities | We pledge to promote local skills and employment and reduce inequality | We pledge to safeguard our planet. |
2.2 Taking action and measuring our progress
As we continue to integrate these Pledges in the way we operate, make decisions and deliver contracts, Commissioners will also assess us based on the social value these Pledges create, both locally and nationally. Our Pledges have been translated into a measurement framework that can be applied to any project, corporate initiative or business unit to track our progress.
We engaged with the Social Value Portal to map our pledges to the Themes, Outcomes and Measures used in the National Social Value Measurement Framework (the National TOMs – a reporting standard build around Themes, Outcomes and Measures).
| Theme | Pledge | Outcomes |
|
Communities |
We pledge to support growth and build healthier, more resilient communities |
More opportunities for local MSMEs and VCSEs |
| Ethical Procurement is promoted | ||
| Creating a healthier community | ||
| Vulnerable people are helped to live independently | ||
| More working with the Community | ||
| Improved skills | ||
|
People |
We pledge to promote local skills, employment and reduce inequality. |
More opportunities for disadvantaged people |
| Reducing inequalities | ||
| Improving employee’s wellbeing & mental health | ||
|
Sustainability |
We pledge to safeguard our planet. |
Air pollution is reduced |
| Safeguarding the natural environment | ||
| Sustainable procurement is promoted | ||
| Resource efficiency and circular economy solutions are promoted | ||
| Carbon emissions are reduced |
Table 1: The Seetec Pledge (social value) Measurement Framework
Seetec has adapted the TOMs framework to suit our Pledges. We believe this provides us
with the benefit of TOMs including:
- Measuring progress against out Pledges using a recognised reporting standard that follows the principles laid out by HM Treasury’s Green and Magenta books monetising economic, environmental and social impact
- Follows the key principles of being open-source, flexible, and measures-based, designed to articulate social value outcomes in terms that can be objectively measured in financial and non-financial metrics
- Usability, transparency and methodological rigour
Our adaptation enables us to reflect Seetec’s unique approach to Social Value.
2.3 Tracking Progress
To ensure we can measure social value activity at scale across multiple projects, Seetec’s Data and Analytics team are working to ensure we can capture and, as far as possible, automate data collection for both our contracts with social value targets and our high-level Pledges. Seetec’s social value commitments were initially reported quarterly to the SoVaCo and during 2023 the governance was amended to ensure all social value reporting is routed through the new Group Operations Board, chaired by the COO.
3.0 Reporting and Governance
3.1 Reporting
We commit to measuring the social value Pledges across projects in a structured and consistent way, alongside transparent reporting. We will share our progress through:
- Publishing social value results and case studies within our quarterly business updates to colleagues
- Detailed reporting to Group Operations Board on a quarterly basis
- Reporting to our clients on projects consistently
- Providing detail on both financial and non-financial impacts of Pledge progress as generated by TOMs
- Including our social value progress against our Pledges as part of an integrated Seetec annual report
3.2 Performance and knowledge building
We will create and maintain a formal social value communications and engagement plan which introduces colleagues to the concept and helps them become familiar with what social value means. Included within this engagement plan are mechanics to ensure there is strong colleague involvement in the delivery and oversight of the social value pledges, from launch and beyond.
3.3 Governance
To ensure we met our commitments to create our pledges and implement delivery, the Group Board originally established a SoVaCo (Social Value Committee) to approve Seetec’s social value strategy, including its pledges, objectives and delivery plans. As the pledges have become embedded, the group has restructured and we have a new Group Operations Board, from mid 2023, this board will oversee our progress against the core Pledges, as well as any social value commitments made on individual contracts. To implement and develop our Pledges, each measure has a Group Executive Board (GEB) owner who will lead its delivery across the group. The GEB will measure and monitor performance against the Pledges, holding each of the GEB owners to account for delivery. The senior leaders of Seetec will place as much importance on our social value performance as they do on our financial performance.
4.0 Associated Documents
This Policy and Pledges are supported by and connected to our HSE Policies;
- Employer Supported Volunteering ESV Policy
- People Development Policy
- Health and Wellbeing
- Gender Pay Gap Report, Inclusive by Nature
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Policy, Embrace Our Differences Guide
- Procurement