Forewords

Minister Stephanie Peacock MP, Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) values the significant contribution that VCSE sectors make to the UK economy and civil society. Resetting the relationship between civil society and government is a key priority, and the government has a critical role in working with these sectors to ensure that they can play a role as an equal partner in delivering a shared vision of national renewal. One way the government is doing this is by working to increase civil society organisations’ delivery of public service contracts. In that context, I hope this VCSE Business Hub will be a useful resource for charities and social enterprises looking to increase their involvement in public service contracts and working together to deliver the government’s missions.

VCSE Crown Representative, Claire Dove CBE

In my role as the Crown Representative for the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector, I act as an intermediary between government and the charity and social enterprise sectors to champion the Social Value Act and improvements in commissioning practices.

I am keen to enable a thriving sector, through working to bring more charities, public service mutuals, and social enterprises (‘VCSEs’) into public sector supply chains. I am also working with industry and sector experts to identify and reduce barriers to charities’ and social enterprises’ participation in public service markets.

To help meet these objectives, we have created the VCSE Business Hub. This hub has information for charities and social enterprises on how the government is engaging with the sector at a strategic level. For government departments that have published a VCSE Action Plan, it houses the latest information on their procurement and market engagement with charities and social enterprises. It also links to brilliant existing resources for charities and social enterprises from across the government. I hope that it will be a valuable resource for organisations across the civil society sector.

For practical guidance on how to work with public sector buyers, how to get ready for tender, what buyers are looking for, and 10 top tips for tendering, see our guidance page for VCSE organisations.

How the government is supporting VCSE organisations

This section talks about the ways that the government recognises and supports VCSEs in the public procurement process.

The Public Services (Social Value) Act

The government supports charities and social enterprises by bringing social value into public procurement through the Public Services (Social Value) Act.

The aim of creating this act was to secure more efficient and effective public services for local communities. The government also aimed to open up more opportunities for charities, public service mutuals, and social enterprises to deliver public services through creating the new legislation, recognising the positive impact that these organisations can have in delivering public services.

The Social Value Act puts those aims into practice by requiring people who commission public services to think about how they can secure ‘social value’, in the design of all major new procurements and award contracts on the basis of more than just price. There are 3 categories of social value:

• social (e.g. activities that promote productivity through an inclusive society)
• environmental (e.g. efforts to assist the community in reducing waste or pollution)
• economic (e.g. training, employment or apprenticeship opportunities for disadvantaged groups)

In June 2018, central government announced it would go further and evaluate social value when awarding most major contracts. Subsequently the government published the Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/20 in 2020, which set out how to take account of social value in the award of central government contracts by using the new Social Value Model. This tool for central government and arm’s length bodies sets out how to evaluate social value and report on the social impact of in-scope contracts consistently. It includes a requirement that the minimum weighting that should be applied to social value in the bidding process is 10%, so large suppliers are not able to win on scale alone.

The Procurement Act 2023

The government has introduced further legislation that will support the VCSE sector. The new Procurement Act 2023 reforms public procurement law to improve the way procurement is done. This benefits suppliers of all sizes, including charities and social enterprises. The new procurement regime:

• creates a simpler and more flexible commercial system, that will make it easier to bid, negotiate, and work in partnership with the public sector
• opens up procurement to new entrants, such as small businesses and social enterprises - including through clear rules around pre-market engagement, a simplified supplier registration system, and removing barriers for smaller businesses in the bidding process
• embeds transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle so that the spending of taxpayers’ money can be properly scrutinised

A significant change that will be implemented through the Procurement Act is that there will be a new centralised platform, where charities and social enterprises can keep track of upcoming opportunities, tender notices, and at least 18 months’ worth of planned procurements from larger organisations (mapped by region and category).

The Procurement Act 2023 is due to go live on 24 February 2025, however VCSEs can still use the Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS). This allows government suppliers and potential government suppliers to raise concerns anonymously about potentially poor public sector procurement practice. Under the Procurement Act, Ministers, Welsh Ministers, and Northern Ireland departments will have the power to investigate cases of non-compliance and to make recommendations that will support the contracting authorities to improve their practices. This process will be managed by the new Procurement Review Unit in the Cabinet Office, and will use information from various sources including complaints or concerns raised by suppliers.

In advance of the Procurement Act coming into force in February 2025, organisations can access further information through The Official Transforming Public Procurement Knowledge Drops. This guidance is designed to provide a high level overview of changes to the procurement regulations, and includes videos aimed specifically at small and medium enterprises and VCSE organisations.

Paying suppliers on time

The government has a target of paying 90% of its invoices within 5 days, and all of them within 30 days, which benefits charities and social enterprises who contract with the government.

The government also promotes prompt payment of subcontractors: Since 1 September 2019, any organisation that bids for a central government contract in excess of £5 million a year needs to demonstrate it has effective payment systems in place to ensure a reliable supply chain. As a part of this, the government has set a standard of 95% of all supply chain invoices to be paid within 60 days for organisations who want to do business with the government. Suppliers who do not comply with the Prompt Payment standard could be prevented from winning government contracts. This helps ensure good payment practice gets passed down to small subcontractors (including charities and social enterprises).

Increasing visibility of contracts, tenders, and grants

The government has made local and central government public sector contracts and government grants in England more visible for VCSEs through its Contracts Finder, Find a Tender, and Find a Grant tools. These help charities and social enterprises keep up to date on relevant opportunities. For more guidance on these tools, see the VCSEs: A guide to working with government.

Helping VCSE organisations to prepare to bid for contracts

The government has set out a short guide for charities and social enterprises on how to bid and win contracts with central government, local authorities and other public sector buyers.

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Working with experts in the VCSE sector

To help government work effectively with charities and social enterprises, the VCSE Crown Representative has established a VCSE Crown Representative Advisory Panel. This brings together key stakeholders from the VCSE sector to facilitate discussions about what the government is working on in procurement, funding, and spending. Panel members are listed here: Claire Dove CBE.

The VCSE Crown Representative also co-chairs a Joint Diversity Commissioning Taskforce. This considers solutions to boost the success of diverse charities and social enterprises in public sector procurement, recognising the unique barriers that minority-led organisations and those supporting minoritised service users may face. The taskforce is co-chaired by leading voices in the VCSE sector, representing the Disability, ethnic minority, and women’s sectors. The current co-chairs are Kamran Mallick (Chief Executive, Disability Rights UK), Kunle Olulode MBE (Director, Voice4Change England), and Vivienne Hayes MBE (CEO, Women’s Resource Centre).

The government is also working with experts to identify and address the unique barriers that charities and social enterprises face in public procurement. DCMS commissioned independent analysis to assist the government in targeting efforts first to unlock public service spend for maximum social value, and second to support the sustainability of the VCSE sectors.

How central departments are supporting VCSE organisations

This section highlights the work that individual departments in central government are doing to support charities and social enterprises in their public procurement processes.

As part of work led by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the VCSE Crown Representative a number of central government departments have been working to create bespoke action plans that are tailored to the needs of VCSEs. These set out departments’ commitments in relation to public procurement, including to improve awareness of charities and social enterprises in their sectors and in the markets they purchase from. The aim is to increase the appetite for contracting with charities and social enterprises.

For more information on department-specific commitments, click on the relevant action plan below:

Department for Culture, Media & Sport - action plan to engage voluntary, community, and social enterprise sectors in its supply chain

Ministry of Justice - action plan for SMEs and VCSEs

Crown Commercial Service - Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSE) Action Plan

How we measure success

Departments’ VCSE Action Plans will enable them to measure their success in engaging VCSEs in their supply chain. The departments who have published a VCSE Action Plan (see the section above) will assess their progress against their unique targets regularly.

Relevant legislation

The Public Services (Social Value) Act

Social Value Act: information and resources

Procurement Policy Note 06/20 and the Social Value Model

The Procurement Act 2023 and the Public Procurement Review Service

Social media

Keep up to date by following accounts:

• VCSE Crown Representative @VCSECrownRep
• Department for Culture, Media and Sport LinkedIn