Key takeaways
Social value now central to NHS procurement
New guidance helps buyers align contracts with wider community impact.
Playbook offers practical steps for commissioners
From bid evaluation to contract management, social value is embedded throughout.
Compliance meets opportunity for long-term change
Procurement can now drive sustainability, equity, and local growth.
As public procurement evolves to reflect broader societal and governmental priorities, NHS organisations are increasingly expected to demonstrate how their contracting activity delivers more than just value for money.
The new NHS Social Value Playbook, published in June 2025, is the latest step in supporting NHS commissioners and procurement professionals to practically embed social value in procurements of goods and services.
Our Hill Dickinson Healthcare Commercial and Regulatory team regularly advises NHS bodies on how to navigate the legal and policy framework underpinning healthcare procurement. Below, we outline the key elements of the Social Value Playbook and its interaction with the wider policy landscape including the new 10 Year Health Plan, the Social Value Model and the National Policy Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS).
The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 has long required public sector contracting authorities to consider social value in service contracts. The social value concept was further developed over the years, resulting in the Social Value Model which was initially set out in PPN 06/20 and updated in PPN 002, which will be mandatory in its application from October 2025.
The Procurement Act 2023 sets out that contracting authorities must have regard to the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) when procuring public contracts, unless they are exempted. The NPPS sets the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement.
The NPPS was published alongside the Procurement Act 2023 in February 2025 and stipulated that contracting authorities shall promote five government missions. PPN 002 refreshed the objectives and key themes of the Social Value Model to align with these five missions.
The Social Value Model, comprising five social value themes and eight policy outcomes, primarily provides model evaluation questions, model award criteria and standard reporting methods along with some guidance on how to consider the social value as the “golden thread” throughout a procurement.
The new Social Value Playbook is designed to assist NHS commissioners in incorporating social value throughout the entire procurement and contract lifecycle by proposing actionable, practical steps, tailored to healthcare procurement.
The Playbook therefore does not replace the Social Value Model but is to be used alongside it.
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan also commits to many principles that align with social value outcomes, particularly around population health, sustainability, local economic development and reducing inequalities. For example, the plan recognises the role NHS organisations can play as anchor institutions as large local employers that can use their spending powers to support local economies and community wellbeing. The plan also places a strong emphasis on addressing health inequalities through Integrated Care Systems and the new “Neighbourhood” approach.
The Playbook specifically:
focuses on four different areas to illustrate how social value can be embedded in the procurement lifecycle which are:
1. Specification development
2. Market engagement
3. Evaluation of bids
4. Contract managementlists common areas of spend and sets out social value themes and outcomes the commissioning body may consider/apply as well as illustrative examples of what this could look like.
The areas of spend discussed in the playbook are clinical procurement, workforce, training and education, digital procurement, estates procurement, professional services and travel and transport.expressly directs commissioners to adopt the PPNs’ model questions and elaborates further on how to set effective questions by setting SMART goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound).
sets out an example scoring methodology that builds on the PPNs’ Social Value Model award criteria, the Social Value Tender Scoring Framework (PPN 002 already mandates a minimum weighting for social value of 10% of the total scores available (or equivalent).
explains how social value should be considered, included and referenced in
framework agreements, including in mini-competitions;
direct award scenarios;
single tender actions; and
medicines procurement.
explains in practical terms how social value can be followed through the contract lifecycle primarily by adopting social value KPIs.
highlights how social value becomes a contractual obligation in the NHS Standard Service Contract and when adopting the NHS Terms and Conditions for procuring goods or non-clinical services.
Conclusion
The NHS Social Value Playbook should offer a valuable resource for NHS buyers to make procurement a lever for sustainable change. For NHS bodies, the challenge does not just lie in compliance with procurement rules but also in embedding social value in their commissioning in a way that aligns with the government’s mission in a proportionate but impactful manner.
For more information on how to apply the social value principles in procurement for your organisation, please get in touch with our specialised healthcare procurement team at Hill Dickinson.
