OUR SOCIAL VALUE

We recognise the importance of delivering and demonstrating social value.

In its simplest terms, social value is the impact that an organisation has on the planet, economy and society. At Arden & GEM, our definition of social value focuses on:

• Increasing the benefits that our employees and customers receive from a social, economic and environmental perspective
• Being a growth enabler with a focus on reducing health inequalities
• Growing capabilities within our customers across our organisation to deliver improved social value.

Our Social Value Specialist, Becky Jones explains more in this video:

As part of our journey to achieving the Social Value Quality Mark Level 1, we have set out pledges in six areas to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to social value:

Economic

• We pledge to only contract for supply of goods and services with organisations who align with our objectives, and ethical and integrity standards.
• We pledge to support local businesses by encouraging and actively providing networking opportunities across the family of public sector organisations in our footprint.

Education and skills

• We pledge that we will strive to maintain and increase employment both in terms of full and part time roles – maintaining a balanced workforce to allow us to remain sustainable but not stretched and overburdened.
• We pledge to continue to offer opportunities for people at all levels to access a wide range of training and education.
• We pledge to employing locally, where possible, to ensure the minimum impact on the environment and maximise the skills and expertise of local communities.

Employment and volunteering

• We pledge to develop and adopt a volunteering policy, by the end of 2023, that provides employees with the opportunity to support relevant organisations, increasing social value and making a difference in the local communities.

Environmental

• We pledge to achieve the net zero target required for NHS organisations by 2040, for scopes 1 and 2, and 2045 for scope 3.
• We pledge to increase the availability of access to low and zero emission cars through our employee car schemes, by 2024.
• We pledge to divert 100% of ICT waste from landfill.
• We pledge to expand flexible working options for employees.

Health and wellbeing

• We pledge to become a menopause friendly organisation.
• We pledge to increase our support for our Armed Forces Network.
• We pledge to introduce a cycle to work scheme to promote active travel and offer employees the opportunity to spend time outdoors.
• We pledge to achieve ISO 45001, replacing our existing OHSAS 18001.

Leadership

• We pledge to embed social value as a key element of the work that we deliver.
• We pledge to have an identified social value executive lead to drive the agenda forward, to ensure social value is considered a part of the day job.
• We pledge to support leadership by example through ongoing training and encouraging innovation.

You can read more about our key value indicators for each pledge area in this document.

You can also here our delivery leads and teams sharing some of our achievements to date on our dedicated social value YouTube playlist.

Our roadmap for delivery

To continue strengthening our commitments to delivering and embedding social value, we are following a roadmap which includes applying for the Social Value Quality Mark Level 2 in early 2024.

The Social Value Network

As part of our commitment to achieving a fairer, better, greener health and care system through pioneering the aims and principles of social value, we have established the Social Value Network – a collaborative, joined-up approach to delivering social value across the public sector.

The Social Value Network enables organisations working in or with the public sector to gain the knowledge and tools needed to meet their statutory and ethical responsibilities. Members are supported to determine what social value means to them and how they can achieve their vision, with bespoke implementation programmes also available.

Find out more about the Social Value Network here.