ISEP responds to BS 8950 draft

In March, the British Standards Institution launched the draft version of BS 8950 – Guide to enhancing social value. The guide looks to inform those whose decisions affect social value, so that they can make better ones. It sets a general approach to the use of data for identifying opportunities to measure and enhance social value, and highlights links to approaches.

The draft guide was open to the public for comment until the beginning of April, and ISEP submitted its comments following engagement with members and external networks with expertise in the field. ISEP found that the guide underplayed the role of the private sector in contributing to the enhancement of social value, noting that it is a key player in the design and delivery of social value and best practice improvements.

Several terms were found to be missing from the definitions section; ISEP called for these to be inserted, along with a refinement of the definition of 'social value'.

The guide also introduced a section on principles; this covers the processes of determining social value, accounting for social value, and the analysis and use of social value information. ISEP found that the principles should mention the factors that the existing state is measured against, and highlighted that social outcomes should be clearly set out upfront as part of the planning stage.

A copy of the ISEP response, together with an explanatory blog by ISEP policy and engagement lead Marc Jourdan, is available at bit.ly/2LwiB4U. The final draft of BS 8950 will be made available upon publication in October 2020.

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