Using the Social Value Portal: Guidance for Members

N.B. Updates are continuously being made on the Portal so, for the latest version of this document, please use the following link:

https://app.socialvalueportal.com/sArticle?id=a060K00001JRlR3QAL

1.   Introduction

The Social Value Portal is an online tool for monitoring, measuring and managing the tendering and delivery of Social Value through contracts and other business-related activities. The aim of this is to understand what value business brings to society. The Social Value Portal uses a range of robust and transparent proxies, as well as other indicators, to allow the comparison of different bids as part of a tender or procurement, and to then monitor the delivery of Social Value commitments made.

1.1. How do we measure Social Value?

The Social Value Portal uses the National Social Value Measurement Framework, also known as the National TOMs (Themes, Outcomes, Measures), to measure Social and Local Economic Value. The National TOMs framework was developed by the National Social Value Taskforce, a body combining both public and private sector organisations. It was the result of extensive consultation across its members and is endorsed by the Local Government Association.

The National TOMs provides a standardised Social and Local Economic Value measurement system. It comprises a series of objectively researched standalone measures that both public and private sector organisations can extend, or reduce, to meet their needs without compromising the integrity of the framework (provided that a consistent methodological approach is taken).

For more information, please visit our National TOMs page.

Or watch our introductory video, here.

1.2. Receiving login credentials

As soon as you have been enabled as a user on the Portal you will receive an email with a link to setup a password. You will receive a username which will be in the format: firstname.lastname@socialvalueportal.com

The password setup link will expire within 48 hours of being sent; if you need a new password setup link, please email support@socialvalueportal.com or select ‘forgot password’ on the portal.

If you do not receive a password setup email, please check your spam/junk mail folder

2.   Logging in

To log in to your account, please navigate to: https://app.socialvalueportal.com/login

You can find this link on the Social Value Portal website, in the menu under Login/Register. 

Please note:

To ensure the best view of the Portal please use a modern browser, ideally with the latest versions installed. Older browsers may not display dashboards and reports correctly.

2.1. Forgotten password

To request a password reset, please click on the ‘Forgot Your Password’ link on the login page, or go to: https://app.socialvalueportal.com/secur/forgotpassword.jsp

After you have received the reset link, please set up your new password using your Social Value Portal username, in the format firstname.lastname@socialvalueportal.com

Alternatively, get in touch with the Social Value Portal team at support@socialvalueportal.com to request a password reset. A new password setup email will be sent to your registered email address.

3.   Start Page

Once you have logged in, you will arrive at the Start Page.

To view your account, press CLICK HERE TO START.

Up to date versions of this User Guidance document, along with National TOMs: Guidance, Definitions, Evidence and other resources will be available to download on this page; please check back regularly to ensure you have the latest version.

4.   Your Home Page

The ‘Summary’ tab displays all account headlines, projects[1] registered and live on your account, your account hierarchy and your project collections.

4.1 Account Headlines

Your account headlines will provide a summary of all your projects in delivery phase. These are the projects/tenders that have begun and are currently being measured or managed on the Portal. The summary includes the aggregated information of:

·       Committed and delivered Social and Local Economic Value (left column)

o  Local Economic Value: The added value delivered to the local economy

o  

Social Value: The added value delivered to society as a whole

o  You can click to expand the information to include a breakdown specifying your Social Value and Local Economic Value

·       Percentage of commitments that have been delivered and Projects in delivery (middle column)

You can click to view how many Live Bid, Manage and Measure projects are currently in delivery as well as any Closed projects – tenders that have passed their submission dates but have not yet been awarded – or Demo projects that are on your account.

·       Contract Value included and % Social and Local Economic Value add (right column)

o  The aggregated Contract Value of all projects

o  Total Social and Local Economic Value added as a % of the total contract value, across all projects

These values will automatically update as you enter new data.

4.2 Projects

You can find all the projects on your account displayed under the projects tab. Each project will also include: 

·       SVP Project reference (0K0-XXXX-XXXXX) – please quote this reference when contacting the Social Value Portal

·       Project name

·       Project type:

o  Bid - entering committed or target Social and Local Economic Value, only 

o  Measure - measuring Social and Local Economic Value achievements, either retrospectively or on live projects

o  Manage - monitoring live Social and Local Economic Value delivery (with or without targets) 

·       Account owner

o  The Account owner is the account under which the project sits. Internally, this could be any Account or Sub-account within your hierarchy. For any external projects, the account owner is the local authority or organisation that is hosting the project/tender

·       Depending on the project type, you will also find:

o  Days until the submission date for Bid projects

o  The amount of delivered Social and Local Economic Value, your % of progress on achieving your targets and your next reporting deadline for Manage projects

o  The total Social and Local Economic Value that has been measured thus far and your next recording deadline for Measure projects

You can search for a specific project in the search bar. You can also sort projects alphabetically, by status or by next key date. To enter/edit Social and Local Economic Value responses for a specific project/tender, please click anywhere on the project.

4.2.2   Bid Projects

Each ‘Bid’ project page contains the following information:

·       The number of tenders registered

·       The number of tenders submitted

·       The number of days until the tender submission date

 To ensure fairness and transparency, the Bid project pages will not show any additional information related to the bidders or their Social Value Records – their submitted Social and Local Economic Value targets – until the submission date has passed.

After the submission date, each bidder’s Social Value Record will show, including an overview of their commitments and their status, Contract Value, Target Social & Local Economic Value and their Target Social and Local Economic Value Added as a % of the contract value.

‘Bid’ projects also contains a summary of the Project Details including the Project Reference, the project’s District and Region, the Submission Date and if Prioritisation Weightings have been applied.

4.2.1 Manage Projects

‘Manage’ Projects are procurements that have been awareded to a bidder and are in the process of being delievered. Each ‘Manage’ project page contains the following information:

·       Delivered/committed Social and Local Economic Value - this icon  provides a breakdown of Local Economic Value and Social Value 

·       Progress against committed Social and Local Economic Value as a % 

·       Total value of the contract (£) 

·       % of added Local Economic Value and Social Value against the value of the contract 

Each ‘Manage’ project is linked to a Social Value Record – the Social Value submission made by the successful bidder which has been converted into Social Value obligations that are being delivered. The Social Value Record will show you an overview of their delivery including their status, Contract Value, Target Social & Local Economic Value and their progress against their targets.

‘Manage’ projects also contains a summary of the Project Details including the Project Reference, the project’s District and Region and the Next Submission Date.

4.2.3       Measure Projects

‘Measure’ projects capture the Social and Local Economic Value that has been delivered as part of a completed project. Each ‘Measure’ project page contains the following information:

·       

The delivered Social and Local Economic Value – this icon provides a breakdown of Local Economic Value and Social Value 

·       The contract value for the project

·       The delivered and Social and Local Economic Value as a % of the contract value

Each ‘Measure’ project is linked to the Social Value record that contains that Social and Local Economic Value delivery data. You can access the Social Value record to edit or add Social Value data by clicking on the name of the record.

‘Measure’ projects may have more than one Social Value Record to allow for the differentiation of the data. Where a project spans multiple years, Social Value Records can be created for each year for data collection and reporting purposes. Additionally, where multiple parties, such as suppliers or sub-contractors, have contributed to a project, different Social Value Records may be created to distinguish between their data accordingly.

 ‘Measure’ projects also contain a summary of the Project Details including the Project Reference and the project’s District and Region.

4.3    Account Hierarchy

Your Account Hierarchy is a visual guide to how your organisation and its information are structured on the Portal.

Accounts and sub-accounts are displayed in black. Projects are displayed in red. Each strand connects your main account to your projects and can be expanded or collapsed by clicking on the  icon; Projects can be viewed by clicking their name. Click on the project name to be redirected to the project summary page.

5.   Making a Social Value submission

Your Social Value Portal account allows you to enter and edit your Social and Local Economic Value responses and upload evidence to support your response.

To complete your Social Value submission, navigate to the Social Value Calculator page by selecting the project and clicking on the Social Value Record you would like to edit. This will open the Social Value Calculator page where you can:

1.      Enter and save your project contract value

2.      Access the Social Value Calculator to add or edit your responses

3.      Upload general pieces of evidence (please add evidence for specific measures using the ‘View/Add Attachments’ links on the Calculator Page - Ref. 5.1.3)

4.      Export your responses to PDF

5.1.  Entering your Social Value responses

To open the Social Value Calculator, click ‘Enter Social Value Calculator’. This will display all questions relating to your project/tender, organised by Theme and Outcome.

Each question includes a Social Value Measure, a specified unit of measurement, the Social Value proxy associated with each measure, and a description/evidence box.

Each measure in the calculator contains additional general information relating to the measure that can be accessed by hovering over the icons below:

5.1.1.      Units

Please note the specified unit of measurement associated with each question. It is important that the correct units are used for each Social Value response, to ensure accurate calculation of Social and Local Economic Value.

5.1.2.      Proxy values

Where a Social Value proxy has been linked to a measure, the calculation and resulting Social Value Add (£SVA) is shown alongside the target. More information on understanding proxy values is available to download from the SVP website: http://socialvalueportal.com/national-toms/

5.1.3.      Description and supporting evidence

Please ensure you include a brief description of how they will deliver a measure in the text box provided.

If you wish to upload a longer response than the text box allows, or provide supporting documentation/evidence, you can upload this as an attachment. Click ‘Add/View Attachments’ to open the attachment pop-up window. Follow the instructions to upload your attachment.

Descriptions and evidence should be provided for every response.

Please check the Guidance, Additional Details or Evidence Requirements for each measure, to ensure that you are meeting all relevant requirements.

5.1.4.      Multiple reporting periods

If more than one reporting period has been defined, multiple data entry fields will be displayed on the Social Value calculator, indicated by the end date of each period.

Please note:

·       You can calculate your Delivered Social and Local Economic Value at any time by pressing ‘Save and Calculate’. The updated Social and Local Economic Value will appear at the top of the page. When you have finished editing your responses, press ‘Save and Close’ to recalculate and return to the submission page.

·       Pressing ‘Close’ will return you to the submission page without saving your changes.

·       Pressing ‘Print Page’ will open your browser print dialogue.

·       Your session will timeout after 2 hours of inactivity. Please ensure that you press ‘Save and Calculate’ regularly to avoid losing any data. After 30 minutes of inactivity, a pop-up will display to remind you to save your data.

Please note that a full list of the attachments you have provided will also be listed further down on the Submissions page in the ‘Evidence, Reports & Attachments’ section.

5.2. Export a PDF report for download

If you would like to create a PDF report detailing your Social and Local Economic Value responses against each question, use the ‘Export Responses to PDF’ button. A report will be generated and stored in the ‘Evidence and Reports’ section. To open the report in your browser, click ‘View’.

You may also choose to download your Social and Local Economic Value Responses, view/download a copy of all questions included within the Social Value Calculator for your specific project/tender, or Download the National TOMs Guidance, Definitions and Evidence Requirements from the Downloads section.

6.   Your Dashboard

6.1. Project KPIs

The dashboards provide you with a detailed summary of your target and delivered social value by Key Performance Indicator (“KPI”).

KPIs consist of the results of one or a combination of TOMs measures presented in graphic form with an indication of performance against targets set. They are available on any Project or Account page.

Each KPI includes:

·       The Target number of Units

·       The Delivered number of Units

·       The Target Social and Local Economic Value Add - SLVA

·       The Delivered Social and Local Economic Value Add - SLVA

·       Progress against target as a percentage (%)

To customise which KPIs are visible, you can click which will allow you to select which KPIs you would like to display on your dashboard.

6.2. Bespoke KPI Dashboard

Several KPIs can also be added to your Bespoke KPI Dashboard to measure your Social Value delivery against. Please speak to your designated Social Value Advisor for further information on this.

6.3. Comparison table

All projects in delivery are also added into a table to compare Contract Value, Actual Social and Local Economic Value delivered and Target Social and Local Economic Value.

You can edit the data your table displays by clicking on ‘Contract’, ‘Actual’ or ‘Target’ at the top of the table to hide or make that data visible.

7.   Global Goals

There is strong alignment between the social value interventions delivered through the TOMs and the UN Global Goals (officially known as the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs). The Social Value Portal has developed a tool that enables social value data entered against TOMs measures to be automatically converted into estimated contributions towards specific Global Goals.                                          

The Global Goals dashboard is available as an optional additional service. Where you have subscribed for this service, you will have a dashboard that looks like Fig 23. If you would like to subscribe for this service, please contact your Social Value Adviser. The data on the Global Goals page estimates the contribution that the TOMs have made towards each of the Goals. Estimates are based on mapping that looks at whether the beneficiaries of the TOMs interventions mirror what the Goals are trying to achieve, and whether the measurable contribution of the TOMs would directly affect the progress of the Global Goals Indicators. Please note, these estimations are available as an add-on to our memberships and are not included in the standard membership agreements.

8.   Locations

The locations tab provides a visual geospatial guide to the Social and Local Economic Value you have delivered. You can zoom in to view your data by region or district, as illustrated below.

You can select to view the mapping of your Target Social and Local Economic Value Add (Target SVA) or Actual Social and Local Economic Value Add (Actual SLVA) by clicking on either option in the top left corner.

The Map automatically generates a key to illustrate the amount of Target or Actual Social and Local Economic Value. This ranges from Orange (low) to Blue (high), relative to the total Target or Actual Social and Local Economic Value, on each area you are viewing within the Map.

9.   Help and Support

For questions regarding your project or tender submission, such as clarifications or key dates and deadlines, please get in touch with your Social Value Advisor, or you can contact our Support channel by emailing support@socialvalueportal.com.

For technical issues or queries specifically relating to the use of the Social Value Portal, you can contact our support team in the following ways:

·       Email support@socialvalueportal.com

Our support team will respond to your query as quickly as possible. Please allow up to one working day for a response.

[1] All project types including bids, tenders, frameworks, contracts, etc. are included in the project list