Professional Services Social Value Forum calls for cooperation and leadership on PPN06/20

A new industry group has been formed to promote clarity and understanding of how social value policies should be applied by businesses across the construction sector.

The Professional Services Social Value Forum* includes Atkins and Faithful+Gould (both members of the SNC-Lavalin Group), AECOM, Mott MacDonald, Jacobs, WSP and Arup. Its aim is to bring together experts to reach a consistent approach to delivering social value across major infrastructure projects.

With increasing legislation in the form of the Procurement Bill making its way through Parliament, and the most recent guidance from government in PPN06/20** prompting questions from many firms on how it should be applied, forum members say it is vital that a joined-up approach is taken to ensure the best possible outcomes.

Founding forum member Michelle Baker - social value lead for Atkins’ Infrastructure division - said it was crucial for the industry to come together in order to make a difference and provide leadership on the issue.

The forum has been meeting since 2021 but is now making the findings of its meetings public, in order to call for closer co-operation to create a better understanding of how PPN06/20 should be implemented.

Michelle said: “At our most recent meeting the forum discussed how the policy note had succeeded in pushing social value higher up the agenda.

“However, it’s been more than two years since it came into force and the feeling is that social value is still somewhat misunderstood.”

Caron Dunlop, technical director for social value at Mott MacDonald, added: “Improved social outcomes have been at the heart of what we do at Mott MacDonald for many years and PPN06/20 has been a great start in embedding good practice at a national level.

“However, there still remains a major opportunity to really optimise the delivery of social value across the industry and maximise our collective impact for the communities where we work.”

The forum also heard that while PPN06/20 represents a step in the right direction, there’s still progress to be made.

Jacobs’ social value lead Michell Levi said: “Challenges remain in changing long-held legacy attitudes, encouraging collaborative behaviours, and incentivising long-term thinking.

“But the point is, we can’t just wait for new legislation. As we discussed, we have to come together as a sector to make a difference, right now.”

Kieran Ronnie, head of social value at AECOM, added: “The good news is that the introduction of PPN06/20 means that as a wider industry we’re taking social value seriously, but we need to do more to make it right, relevant, and proportionate for professional services. That is exactly what we’re trying to do on the Professional Services Social Value Forum.”

Emily Binning, Corporate ESG Director at WSP, added: “Driving social value across all sectors is vital in meeting our collective ESG objectives and the aims of PPN06/20.

“Collaboration will be the key to unlocking the potentially significant added value we can bring to communities across the UK through our projects and operations. We must evolve together to drive progress and use social value as an agent of change.”

Notes to editors

*The Professional Services Social Value Forum: 

Michelle Baker - Associate Director, Social Value Lead, Atkins 

Peter Masonbrook - Head of Social Value, Faithful+Gould 

Kieran Ronnie - Associate Director - Head of Social Value AECOM 

Caron Dunlop, Technical Director, Social Value, Mott MacDonald 

Michelle Levi - Social Value Lead, Manchester, Jacobs  

Nin Khoshaba, Social Value Lead, WSP 

**Procurement Policy Note 06/20 – taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

About Atkins

Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world’s most respected design, engineering and project management consultancies, employing over 19,000 people across the UK, North America, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Europe. We build long-term trusted partnerships to create a world where lives are enriched through the implementation of our ideas. You can view Atkins’ recent projects here.

About SNC-Lavalin

Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world dedicated to engineering a better future for our planet and its people. We create sustainable solutions that connect people, technology and data to design, deliver and operate the most complex projects. We deploy global capabilities locally to our clients and deliver unique end-to-end services across the whole life cycle of an asset including consulting, advisory & environmental services, intelligent networks & cybersecurity, design & engineering, procurement, project & construction management, operations & maintenance, decommissioning and capital – and delivered to clients in key strategic sectors such as Engineering Services, Nuclear, Operations & Maintenance and Capital. News and information are available at snclavalin.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.