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Submitting social value as part of a tender

Social value forms a key part of Lancashire County Council’s procurement process. When submitting a tender, suppliers are required to complete their social value response using the Social Value Portal (SVP) and align their submission to Lancashire’s adopted TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures). Your submission should aim to provide a clear, compliant and high‑quality social value response to increase your bidding success rate and prepare your organisation for contract delivery.

Follow the prompts

When completing your social value submission, the questions and prompts within the Social Value Portal should be treated as your main point of reference. The Portal is designed to guide you through the required information step‑by‑step and ensure consistency of submissions across all suppliers

You should ensure that, for the Lancashire TOMs that your bidding for, every question is fully answered and that information entered directly corresponds to what the prompt is asking for. Partial or generic responses may score poorly or be discounted.

Use the guidance

Each of Lancashire TOMs is listed in the Portal and supported by specific guidance on what is required for each of them. When responding to a Lancashire TOM:

  • Read the measure description in full before entering data

  • Ensure your proposal directly delivers the specified output (for example hours, numbers of people supported, placements, or activities)

  • Do not reinterpret or substitute measures with alternative activity unless expressly permitted by the guidance

Lancashire’s TOMs are based on the National Social Value Measurement Framework and must be applied as defined to ensure fair and consistent evaluation across all tenders.

Remember, there are 28 Lancashire TOMs – no supplier is expected to bid for all of them. Only select the Lancashire TOMs that you can truly deliver.

Understanding what is being asked

Your social value submission usually includes both quantitative data and qualitative explanations.

Quantitative responses must:

  • Enter realistic and deliverable figures

  • Ensure the units of measurement match the TOMs guidance

  • Avoid double‑counting or inflating outputs

Qualitative responses must clearly explain:

  • How the activity will be delivered

  • When it will take place within the contract period

  • Who will be responsible for delivery

  • Any dependencies or partnership working required 

Qualitative responses should directly explain and support the quantitative commitments entered, not repeat generic corporate policies or unrelated activity.

Common issues to avoid at the tendering stage

To avoid issues during evaluation, suppliers should take particular care to avoid:

  • Ignoring or partially answering Portal prompts

  • Submitting activity that does not meet the TOMs definition

  • Providing narrative without clear delivery detail

  • Proposing outputs that cannot realistically be delivered

  • Copying social value responses from other tenders without tailoring them to this contract

  • The proposal is not directly related to the contract or delivered within the contract term

Unfortunately general business‑as‑usual activity or corporate initiatives that are not linked to the contract may be discounted during evaluation, as social value must be additional and contract‑specific.

Support, guidance and training is available to all

If you are unsure how to respond to any part of the social value submission, support is available. The Social Value Portal provides:

Taking the time to follow the guidance and Portal prompts carefully will help ensure your social value response is fully understood and fairly assessed.