Duchy of Lancaster Chancellor and Cabinet Office Minister visits PossAbililites

Date published: 30 June 2018

David Lidington, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office spent the day at Heywood-based social enterprise PossAbilities on Friday (29 June).

After the collapse of Carillion, the Minister is mounting a campaign to rebuild confidence in government outsourcing and aims to increase the proportion of government contracts awarded to small and medium enterprises.

The new measures will extend the requirements of the 2013 Social Value Act to level the playing field for mutuals, co-operatives and social enterprises bidding to win government contracts.

In a further change, the government will use its purchasing power - some £200 billion is spent per year on private companies providing public services - to challenge its major suppliers to do better on equality and diversity.

Mr Lidington said: "We are determined to build a society where people from all parts of our country can access the best public services, and for those services to run efficiently and smoothly for them and their families. Whether that service is delivered by public, private or voluntary sectors, what matters is that it works for them and their everyday needs, while providing value for money for the taxpayer.

"And whether it is operating our call centres; building our railways; or delivering our school meals - the private sector has a vital role to play in delivering public services, something this government will never cease to champion.

"We want to see public services delivered with values at their heart, where the wider social benefits matter and are recognised. That means government doing more to create and nurture vibrant, healthy, innovative, competitive and diverse marketplaces of suppliers that include and encourage small businesses, mutuals, charities, co-operatives and social enterprises - and therefore harness the finest talent from across the public, private and voluntary sectors.

"That is why I can announce today that we will extend the requirements of the Social Value Act in central government to ensure all major procurements explicitly evaluate social value where appropriate, rather than just ‘consider’ it.

"By doing so, we will ensure that contracts are awarded on the basis of more than just value for money - but a company’s values too, so that their actions in society are rightly recognised and rewarded."

A big theme for future procurement will be to encourage more businesses to focus on adding social value. PossAbilities, which has doubled in size since its inception in 2014, is being held up as a prime example of how be successful whilst making life better for people and improving the places where they work.

The Minister toured the Cherwell Wellbeing Garden & Farm, the Flower Lounge Florists and The Social Lounge, where people with learning disabilities can drop into 364 days a year.

Rachel Law, Chief Executive of PossAbilities, said "It's great that we are getting a national profile for our work supporting vulnerable adults. It's further recognition of the fantastic work that our staff are doing. It shows that we are a great place to work, and the message to anyone who likes the idea of working in social care is to come and join us, we are always looking for good people."