Brighten all corners

摘要

The Social Value Act is perhaps the supremeexample of how a mere backbencher’s Billcan achieve an outsize impact in society. Thereasons why the Act has been taken to heart in its firsteight years is that suppliers want to see it work andlocal authorities are determined to realise the benefitsfor the people and places they serve.In the early days there was a need to understandthe rules of the SVA game by playing it. Supplierswould typically see the procurement exercise beingconducted in time-honoured tradition, all by the boardin Official Journal of the European Union-compliantfashion. And then, citing social value, the procurementside of the table would ask: ‘And what about all thefree stuff?’ Cue a desperate and sometimes despairingquest to throw available resources or in-house surplusof staff, material that might help tip the bid favourablyin the supplier’s direction.