Social Value in the mainstream

Two things happened in the past month or so to help shift Social Value further into the mainstream of  impact evaluation and procurement. Firstly although quite unheralded the Government published a new procurement note PPN…

Social Housing needs

It was good to see that the latest funding announcement from Homes England of £7.5B included indicative allocations of 50% for social and affordable rent properties.  This was a significant success for the sector who…

Tipping point

Recent announcements on the fall in apprenticeship starts during the pandemic will come as no surprise given the unique circumstances with a fall of 60% in May, with greater proportions of level 2 – 74%,…

Social Value Associate Practitioner

I am very pleased to announce some exciting news! Tim Edwards our Director has achieved Level 1 Associate Practitioner Status with @Social Value International . Through Level 1 Associate Practitioner status Tim demonstrated his theoretical…

Social mobility where next

The latest social mobility report  Monitoring Social Mobility landed at the Government’s door this month with a dull thud. The latest in a series of reports form the Social Mobility Commission (yes the same organisation…

Equality is Better for Everyone

This is the headline for The Spirit Level Richard Wilkinson & Kate Pickett’s highly influential book on the corrosive impact of growing inequality and the potential that more equal societies are better for everyone.  Through…

ESG and Social Value

ESG is a term I’ve only been vaguely associated with in the past, it relates to Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance in particular associated with financial investment. For those of us looking to increase the…

Schools and education futures

As schools closed due to the pandemic, suddenly our accepted norms of traditional school centred education have changed with them. Technology has been part of education for some time as a Chair of Governors at…

Priorities for FE skills providers

Skills providers have a difficult line to tread at present, they have strong commitments to their learners and employers and want to build and maintain these relationships , maintain ongoing support and learning and ensure…

The New Normal

At the end of the current crisis, there will be opportunity to reflect and learn, already there is a lot of speculation about how society might change as a result.  Amongst the suffering and pain…