Social value just got sharper. The real test is what organisations do when nobody is scoring them

From 1 January 2027, the Social Value Model changes. PPN 026 replaces five broad themes with two outcomes: Good Jobs and Skills, measured through six award criteria. It also doubles the weighting to 20% on contracts valued at £5 million or more. 

At a time when skills shortages continue to affect the UK economy and more than one million young people are not in education, employment or training, creating pathways into employment has never been more important. A stronger focus on jobs, skills, and opportunity is both timely and necessary. 

The new model brings greater clarity and accountability to public procurement. It places increased emphasis on creating employment opportunities, developing future skills and supporting people who face barriers to entering the workforce. 

It also aligns closely with where Kainos has invested for many years. 

I've always believed that access to opportunity is one of the most powerful drivers of social impact. Good jobs and relevant skills change individual lives, but they also strengthen communities and the economy.  

Through outreach, apprenticeships, work experience, social mobility initiatives, and disability inclusion programmes, we've consistently invested in helping people access meaningful careers in technology and develop skills for the future economy. 

That commitment continues today. 

Since 2011, our Tech Outreach programme has reached more than 15,000 young people. This year we're working with 100 schools in lower socio-economic areas, delivering EmpowHER programmes for young women across our regions, funding digital bursaries, providing paid internships for participants with special educational needs, and continuing to expand apprenticeship and work experience programmes.  

At a time when many organisations are reducing graduate and early career hiring, we have made a deliberate choice to continue investing in the next generation of talent. Over the next three years, we plan to increase the number of graduates, apprentices, and early career professionals joining Kainos. 

Creating opportunity also means ensuring those pathways are accessible to people from all backgrounds and circumstances. We're also proud to be a Disability Confident Leader and a Social Mobility Pledge signatory, and we intend to continue growing our impact in these areas. 

The increase to 20% weighting is significant because it moves social value from being a supplementary consideration to a material factor in procurement decisions. By placing greater emphasis on outcomes related to jobs and skills, the model reinforces the importance of long-term investment in people and communities and creates stronger accountability for delivery. 

While we welcome this sharper focus, our commitment to social impact extends beyond the areas measured within the new framework. 

Issues such as sustainability, workplace wellbeing, tackling violence against women and girls, supporting vulnerable groups, and reducing environmental impact remain important to our people, customers and the communities where we live and work. These challenges have not become any less important simply because procurement priorities have evolved. 

At Kainos, we will continue to invest in these areas alongside our work on employability and skills. We are developing a domestic abuse policy and have joined the Employers' Initiative on Domestic Abuse. We have also invested in a supplier emissions module through Watershed to give us greater visibility of our supply chain footprint and support better environmental decision-making. 

The new Social Value Model is a positive step forward. It brings greater focus to some of the UK's most pressing challenges by strengthening pathways into employment and helping more people develop the skills they need to thrive. 

Success will ultimately be measured not by procurement scores, but by the number of people who secure good jobs, develop valuable skills and build rewarding careers. 

The framework may have changed, but our approach has not. We'll continue investing in jobs, skills and opportunity, while also supporting the wider social and environmental issues that matter to our people, customers, and communities. 

Dan Kemp is Digital Services Director at Kainos.