Social Value Scoring 2026: PPN 06/20 + Win 10%+ Weighting

Since 1 January 2021, central government departments in the UK must explicitly evaluate social value in every above-threshold procurement — with a minimum weighting of 10% of the total score. The framework is set by PPN 06/20 and the Social Value Model, and it remains fully in force under the Procurement Act 2023.

1. What is the Social Value Model?

It's a scoring framework that translates the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 into concrete, measurable criteria. Bidders are asked to commit to specific actions — apprenticeships created, carbon reduction, SME spend in the supply chain — and are scored on the quality and credibility of those commitments.

2. The 5 themes and 8 policy outcomes

• COVID-19 recovery — supporting organisations and communities to recover.
• Tackling economic inequality — creating new jobs & skills; resilient supply chains.
• Fighting climate change — effective stewardship of the environment.
• Equal opportunity — reducing the disability employment gap; tackling workforce inequality.
• Wellbeing — improving health & wellbeing; improving community integration.

3. How scoring works

Each policy outcome the buyer selects becomes a sub-criterion, scored typically on a 0–100 scale against four levels of evidence (poor / acceptable / good / excellent). Scores are weighted and aggregated; the social-value total then contributes its 10%+ to the overall MAT score.

Common pitfall: bidders write inspirational narratives but fail to quantify commitments. A score of "excellent" almost always requires specific, measurable, time-boundactions tied to the contract — not generic CSR statements.

4. Writing a winning Social Value response

1. Anchor every commitment to a Model Award Criterion (MAC). The Model lists MAC 1.1, 2.1, 3.1, etc. Quote them.
2. Use the buyer's language. If the ITT prioritises "MAC 3.1 — effective stewardship of the environment", lead with carbon reduction, not equality.
3. Quantify everything. "We will create 6 apprenticeship starts in Year 1, ring-fenced for residents of [postcode area]." Beats "we support apprentices."
4. Show governance. Name the accountable manager, the reporting cadence (quarterly), and the KPI dashboard format.
5. Use TOMs (Themes/Outcomes/Measures). The National TOMs framework is the de-facto measurement standard used by most authorities.

5. Social Value under the Procurement Act 2023

The Act doesn't replace PPN 06/20 — it reinforces it. Award is now under Most Advantageous Tender (MAT), which explicitly considers wider public benefit. Expect higher social-value weightings (some authorities already publish 15–20%) and tougher scrutiny of delivery evidence post-award.

6. How rTenders helps

For each UK tender, rTenders extracts the social-value criteria from the ITT, identifies which MACs are in scope, and drafts a structured response using your past commitments and company data. The output is editable, traceable to source, and aligned to the buyer's stated weightings.