In our last blog, we looked at what PPN 026 signals: a narrower Social Value Model built around Good Jobs and Skills, and a shift from making commitments to proving outcomes. That was the direction of travel. On 28 October 2026, the Cabinet Office published its Guidance on using PPN 026: The Social Value Model – and now we know exactly how bids will be judged.
Read the source: PPN 026 guidance (PDF, Cabinet Office) · PPN 026 on GOV.UK
The model applies from 1 January 2027. That leaves under eight weeks to get ready. Here's what's changed for bidders, and what to do about it.
The essentials
Scope: new in-scope central government procurements worth £1m or more, with tender notices published on or after 1 January 2027 under the Procurement Act 2023.
Weighting: a minimum of 10% for contracts from £1m to under £5m, and 20% for contracts of £5m or more. Below £1m, there's no minimum.
What it replaces: the guidance confirms that PPN 026 replaces all previous social value PPNs. Frameworks awarded earlier may still run on PPN 002 or PPN 06/20, depending on when they were procured – so check which model applies before you write a word.
1. The size of your commitment is not the score
This is the biggest shift. Under the new guidance, scoring is qualitative: evaluators assess how well your plan will work, not how big your numbers are. Quantities still go into the contract and get monitored – but a headline figure no longer wins points on its own.
The suggested scoring model runs from 0 to 10, and a top mark requires additional, relevant social value beyond the criteria themselves.
What this means: the race to promise the most apprenticeship hours is over. A smaller, credible, well-resourced commitment will beat an inflated one.
2. Naming who you will be helping
Generic commitments to "the local community" won't cut it. Bidders must choose a specific target cohort and explain how they'll identify and reach them. The guidance lists eight cohorts:
Young people aged 16–24 not in education, employment or training (NEET)
People moving from education into work (left within the last 12 months)
People with long-term health conditions or disabilities
People with SEND or neurodiversity
Care leavers aged 16–24
People on probation, prison leavers, and people in prison where support aims to reduce reoffending
Victims of domestic abuse
Veterans
What this means: your access to these groups is now a competitive asset. If you don't have relationships with referral partners – charities, colleges, probation services, employment programmes – start building them now.
3. Every commitment needs a plan for how it ends
Whichever route you take, your response must meet the four implementation criteria set out in the guidance:
A measurable, time-bound commitment with quantities, milestones and deliverables
How participants will be prepared and supported
How the activity will end in a way that helps people progress
How commitments and performance will be published
The third is the one most bids will miss. A placement that simply stops when the contract does isn't enough – buyers want to know where people go next. It's the point we made in our piece on legacy in social value delivery, and it's now written into the scoring.
4. Additionality is no longer optional
Social value must go beyond the core contract. A training provider can't count its own training as social value. Expanding something you already do is acceptable – but only if the expansion results directly from winning the contract. Financial donations don't count at all.
For high-value contracts, buyers will usually expect a transparent cost model showing what your social value will cost to deliver.
What this means: price your commitments properly. If it isn't costed, it isn't credible.
5. Social value goes public – and becomes enforceable
For contracts of £5m or more, the guidance requires at least one social value KPI to be set and published on the Central Digital Platform, alongside the three KPIs the Procurement Act already requires. Performance is rated – from Good to Inadequate – and contract performance notices are published at least every 12 months.
Persistent poor performance, after a proper chance to improve, can lead to a published performance notice and possible exclusion from future procurements.
What this means: this is where social value stops being a bid-writing exercise and becomes an operational one. Whoever owns delivery after contract award needs to be in the room before you submit.
6. There's a second route: Community Programmes
Bidders can choose to commit to an approved Community Programme, backed by a dated letter (using the Annex D template in the guidance) confirming support that's additional to existing activity. A bid that uses a Community Programme and meets all four implementation criteria should score at least 6 out of 10.
What this means: for smaller suppliers without in-house delivery capacity, this is a sensible, lower-risk route. Contact the programme early – you'll need that letter before you submit.
What about SMEs?
The guidance is clear that buyers must keep barriers low for SMEs, VCSEs, start-ups and mutuals. Scoring should be proportionate – a short, low-value contract shouldn't require a new apprenticeship. Buyers also can't require UK-based subcontractors or favour bidders who use them.
On frameworks, one detail matters: where call-offs are awarded without competition, suppliers must already have committed to Social Value Model outcomes as a condition of joining. Get this right at framework stage, or you may be locked out of direct awards later.
Your pre-January checklist
Check which model applies to each live or upcoming opportunity – PPN 026, PPN 002 or PPN 06/20.
Audit what you already do against the six award criteria – good jobs, fair working conditions, fair pay, training, in-work progression and talent pipeline.
Choose your target cohorts and line up the partners who can help you reach them.
Rewrite commitments as measurable, dated targets using the standard reporting metrics.
Plan the exit for every activity – what happens to participants when it ends?
Cost it and build it into your pricing.
Assign a delivery owner beyond the bid team, with a reporting process ready for published KPIs.
Explore Community Programmes if you lack in-house capacity.
Beyond central government
PPN 026 applies to central government. Local authorities, NHS bodies, housing associations and private developers aren't bound by it, and many will keep broader priorities – wellbeing, community, environment. Those still matter.
But expect the discipline to spread. Specific cohorts, costed commitments, published KPIs and real consequences for non-delivery are where good social value practice was heading anyway. Organisations that build these habits now will be ready wherever they bid.
How Enable Green can Support Your Organisation
We help organisations turn social value from a section of the bid into something they can deliver, evidence and win on. That includes PPN 026-ready bid strategy, delivery planning, KPI and reporting frameworks, and fractional social value support for teams without in-house capacity. If you're preparing for a January tender or want guidance in how to prepare, get in touch.
