Robbie Blackhurst, founder of Black Capital Group (BCG), explores how digital tools can ensure accountability and increase the profile of social value in public sector built environment projects
There’s no denying the vital role that the built environment plays in the public sector. After all, where would we be without the contractors responsible for building our hospitals, schools, roads, and railways?
Such public facilities enable us all to live better, more convenient, and comfortable lives, and help maintain the social and economic harmony that our society relies upon.
While the built environment’s importance to the public sector can’t be overstated, neither can the need to ensure that projects are carried out responsibly, considered, and sustainably.
With purse strings so tight across all government departments, as the cost-of-living crisis persists, the level of scrutiny the public sector receives is set only to intensify.
Social value is not just a matter of community, but compliance
The Public Services [Social Value] Act 2012 provides for this, calling for public services contracts to factor in the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of the surrounding area.
All public bodies across England and Wales – including local authorities and NHS organisations – are required to comply with this legislation, taking into account how the services they commission and procure could improve the local communities in which they’re delivered.
As such, the Social Value Act plays an incredibly vital role in keeping public sector construction projects accountable to the people whose lives will be affected by them.
Measuring social value through digital tools
Accountability is, of course, a good thing, but for contractors, ensuring compliance with the act is easier said than done.
With so many considerations to make, keeping track of each activity and its progress can be a real challenge, and failure to do so can frustrate contractors’ efforts to bid for contracts in the future.
It stands to reason, therefore, that contractors will want to avoid falling afoul of their social value obligations, while simultaneously delivering projects to the high standards expected by public bodies.
Fortunately for contractors, compliance technology offers a solution to this challenge. Through the use of specially designed digital tools, contractors can seamlessly manage all activities related to the social value of their public sector projects.
By logging specific targets in the platforms at the beginning of a project’s lifecycle, users can track each project’s progress in one collaborative location.
This allows for a close eye on social value measures and greatly mitigates the likelihood of non-compliance.
As each target is achieved, contractors can upload evidence to support this, including any relevant documentation and imagery.
What’s more, the monetary value that projects provide can also be monitored and evidenced through platforms, making the task of demonstrating the tangible benefits being delivered much easier.
Overall, the technological solutions now available to contractors can help alleviate many of the pain points involved in social value management and ensure compliance with relevant legislation.
Accountability can be improved across the project lifecycle
However, the functions of compliance technology aren’t limited to social value; other project KPIs can be tracked at each stage of construction. Live data is captured across the entire project lifecycle, with the platform producing performance reports for sharing with key stakeholders as requested.
This widens the scope of accountability that technology can provide and helps keep all relevant parties in the loop at every step of the way.
Meanwhile, digital tools are also capable of providing users with full, end-to-end control of their supply chain partners, enabling them to search for new suppliers based on geographies, as well as any specific accreditations that they hold.
By using this function, contractors can more easily identify verified suppliers who will be best equipped to help them deliver projects responsibly and to a high standard.
On top of all this, the technology provides additional benefits to public sector bodies who work with principal contractors to carry out projects.
In working with responsible contractors who use digital compliance tools, councils can demonstrate their commitment to the necessary requirements, ensuring accountability and transparency while building trust among local communities as a result.
We must have the right technology to realise our future
Simply put, the possibilities afforded to contractors by digital compliance tools are boundless, and it’s inevitable that the technology will become more ubiquitous across the built environment industry as news of its benefits spreads, and scrutiny over public sector projects continues to grow.
Greater accountability over the provision of public services is certainly welcome, but contractors must be given the means to ensure that projects have a genuinely positive and long-lasting impact on local communities, the environment, and society as a whole.
Robbie Blackhurst 
Founder, Black Capital Group
