Aligning Innovation and Social Value in Modern Procurement: A new White Paper Released by APMP UK in Collaboration with QinetiQ

Introduction

Bringing together the former Social Value and Procurement Focus Groups under the banner of Public Sector Procurement, a new white paper explores how public sector procurement can better balance innovation with social value requirements. Social Value in the Age of Fast-Paced Public Sector Innovation sets out the growing challenge facing government as it adopts more agile, innovation-led delivery models while maintaining clear expectations for societal impact.

The paper notes that approaches such as pilots, sandboxes and staged funding are becoming more common. These models depend on iteration and learning, but this can sit uneasily alongside traditional social value frameworks, which tend to rely on defined, measurable outputs such as jobs created or carbon reduced.

Framed against Labour’s five national missions, including economic growth, clean energy and NHS reform, the analysis argues that innovation is central to achieving these priorities. However, it highlights that some social value criteria do not always align well with early-stage or research-based projects, particularly where outcomes are uncertain or emerge over time.

The paper also points out that a focus on easily measured metrics can encourage a compliance-led approach, rather than one that reflects the broader contribution innovation can make. In certain cases, this may limit the scope of proposals or discourage more ambitious solutions.

Overall, the conclusion is that innovation and social value can be delivered together, but only with a more flexible and proportionate approach. This includes selecting appropriate criteria for different stages of development and recognising longer-term impact, learning and capability building as part of social value delivery.

The White Paper

To understand the full argument and recommendations, read the complete white paper linked below