Calderdale Council is looking to strengthen its commitment to communities, bringing together existing work to ensure that public money delivers maximum benefit for local people, businesses and the environment.
At the meeting of the Council’s Cabinet on Monday 9 February, members will consider a new Social Value Framework, setting out what social value means for Calderdale and establishing shared principles, priorities and expectations across the organisation.
The additional positive impact that the Council creates beyond just delivering a service is known as social value. This includes things like supporting jobs and businesses; improving health and wellbeing; protecting the environment; strengthening communities; and supporting voluntary organisations.
The Council already creates significant social value through the way it delivers regeneration and infrastructure projects. Alongside the core works, contractors are supporting local jobs, apprenticeships and local supply chains.
The Social Value Framework would help to ensure this type of added value is planned deliberately, and is consistent across the Council, bringing together existing good practice into one clear, Council-wide approach.
The Social Value Framework focuses on five key areas of delivery:
- Leadership and Culture – The Council will lead by example as an employer, partner and civic leader, with actions including encouraging staff volunteering and sharing good practice with partners.
- Decision making and service delivery – Social value will be embedded early in the design and delivery of policies, services and investments.
- Partnership and Community Collaboration – The Council will work with local communities, voluntary and public sector partners, and the private sector, to amplify impact and deliver shared goals. This includes promoting models such as the North Halifax Strategy(external link), enabling communities to shape their own priorities.
- Procurement and Commissioning – The Council will officially recognise the social value impacts of contractors and suppliers. Action will include encouraging suppliers to reduce emissions and adopt sustainable practices aligned to the borough’s Climate Action Plan.
- Measuring, Learning and Improving – The Council will develop a consistent and transparent approach to measurement, learning and improvement.
The Framework supports Calderdale’s Corporate Plan and Vision 2034, as well as key strategies on inclusive growth, health and wellbeing, climate action and building stronger communities.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport, Cllr Sarah Courtney, said:
“We work hard to ensure that local people are at the heart of every decision that we make, and we do all we can to ensure that every pound that the Council spends brings the maximum benefits for local people, businesses and our place.
“We already see strong social value created through how investment or contracts are designed and delivered. For example, through programmes such as the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, where delivering funding differently is generating wider social, economic and wellbeing benefits for our communities.
“To ensure that this work is clear, consistent and transparent, we’ve developed a Social Value Framework, which would guide decisions across the Council and support wider work with partners, contractors and local communities.
“The framework would set a shared commitment across all Council services to embed social value across everything we do, from the way we buy goods and services, to how we deliver services, and invest in our places. It supports the delivery of Vision 2034 and reflects our ambition to create a more inclusive, fair, healthy, resilient, and sustainable borough.”
If approved, the Framework would be reviewed every three years, or sooner if significant changes occur in national policy, local priorities or financial context.
The Social Value Framework 2026 is being discussed at the meeting of the Council’s Cabinet on Monday 9 February at Halifax Town Hall from 4pm. The meeting will also be live streamed online at https://calderdale.public-i.tv/core/portal/home(external link).