Dear Warwickshire County Council,

I would like to request the following information under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) regarding the use of Social Value in your organisation’s commissioning processes for care and accommodation services for Children Looked After.

1. The Social Value Act 2012 requires commissioning authorities to give consideration at the pre-procurement stage to how what is to be procured may improve the social, environmental and economic well-being of the relevant area over and above the core delivery of a contract; how any such improvement might be secured; and the need to consult.

Does your organisation give consideration to Social Value in commissioning the following services?
• Independent Fostering Agencies (IFAs)
• Residential children’s homes and/or parent and child units
• 16+ semi-independent accommodation
• Accommodation services for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children

2. If so, what Social Value/added value outcomes does your organisation seek to achieve from either procurement exercises or contracts for these services?

3. How does your organisation communicate its required Social Value outcomes to service providers (e.g. face-to-face engagement, building Social Value requirements into service specifications, including Social Value questions within the quality section of Invitations to Tender, etc.)?

4. If your organisation includes Social Value questions within Invitations to Tender for these services, approximately what weighting is given to these questions?

5. How are Social Value outcomes/returns measured and evaluated within your contract management processes for these services?

6. What impact, if any, has been achieved for your local area as a result of including Social Value within your organisation’s commissioning process for these services?

7. What financial return, if any, has been achieved as a result of including Social Value within your organisation’s commissioning process for these services?

Yours faithfully,

Toni Badnall-Neill
Senior Commissioning Officer (Children's & Public Health)
Bedford Borough Council