Greater Manchester Social Value Procurement Framework

Manchester City Council has undertaken many social procurement initiatives including setting up an ethical procurement sub-group and engaging suppliers in areas of high deprivation. The most notable is the Greater Manchester Social Value Procurement Framework – the first such framework developed in collaboration with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, putting Manchester at the forefront of practice around social value. One result is that the proportion of spend with Manchester-based organisations has increased from 51.5 percent in 2008/09 to 59.9 percent in 2020/21.

The framework embeds social value in all aspects of the procurement cycle, and importantly measures the contribution suppliers make to a range of social value indicators. In the procurement process, ten percent of the 20 percent weighting for social value is reserved for environmental indicators.

The project to redevelop the Manchester Town Hall was procured under the Greater Manchester Social Value Procurement Framework, and social value was included and embedded as an objective for the project from the beginning of the procurement process. The project was in full compliance with Living Wage and Ethical Procurement Policies. By 2024 the project had provided:

• 67 percent spend in Manchester
• 35 new jobs
• 80 school engagement sessions
• engagement of over 1,500 higher education students
• 61 work placements
• 23 apprentice placements.