Social value, when driven by data, can bring better outcomes

Good data can elevate social value to a more effective, more transparent, and more impactful place because it increases understanding of local needs and enables organisations to move away from delivering outputs and to be more strategic about the interventions they make, says social value expert Kieran Ronnie.

Changes to government legislation that requires social value to be explicitly evaluated – as set out in PPN 06/20 – have transformed how construction and infrastructure project impacts are measured and how contracts are procured. However, without the right intelligence from the outset, social value activity may still miss the mark, no matter how well-intentioned.

Organisations looking to optimise impact in the communities in which they operate need to harness the power of data. Good data can elevate social value to a more effective, more transparent, and more impactful place because it increases understanding of local needs and enables organisations to move away from delivering outputs and to be more strategic about the interventions they make. For example, a rural project in an area with poor internet connectivity could review digital literacy levels in local school leavers when designing their local school engagement programme.

Here, we look at three recent examples of how data can be used in different ways to inform decision-making, so an organisation’s social value activities have a meaningful impact and greater societal benefits.

1/ Using data to measure impact on behalf of Battersea Power Station

AECOM was commissioned by Battersea Power Station to develop a social value framework for measuring the social impact of key community programmes in the area’s regeneration project. They included jobs and schools’ programmes, a community choir, community forum and road shows, and the Power to Connect initiative.

As the pandemic hit, local pupils found themselves forced to home-school, many without access to a computer or the internet. Battersea Power Station and Wandsworth Council joined forces to launch Power to Connect, an initiative which aims to tackle digital poverty in the borough. Since launching in April 2020, Power to Connect has collected, refurbished and donated over 1,600 devices to local families and organisations.

Data was key in helping Battersea Power Station understand how this action could be modelled and validated to provide a reliable, referenceable measurement of the value delivered. We achieved these insights using per-pupil education cost insights from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and University College London (UCL), which we integrated into the social value dashboard we developed. The data showed an impactful relationship between the spend per pupil per hour; we measured the value of the education not lost thanks to Power to Connect as £1.1million.

2/ How we used data to identify local need for social value activities on The Northumberland Line

The Northumberland Line, due to open in 2023, is a new passenger rail service that will run on an existing freight line, improving connectivity for previously underserved communities in the North-East of England.

During our ground investigations work in the early stages of this project, we wanted to develop and deliver a social value plan that really met community need. With an understanding of the County Council’s social value drivers, we approached our supply chain partners – Sunbelt Rentals and Geotechnical Engineering – knowing that they knew the local area well.

Both partners collaborated with us to share data about which specific schools and charities in the area needed our support the most, which then fed into our own social value planning. For example, our supply chain partners had used the ‘number of pupils on free school meals’ metric to choose which school to target, and we adopted that too.

This collaborative approach was carried through to implementation as we made joint donations towards the school’s breakfast club and delivered Christmas food parcels together to a local rehabilitation charity.

For a schools engagement programme, other potential metrics can include percentage of BAME students, number of pupils with English as a second language or low academic attainment. As social value consultants we help organisations decide which metrics to use to maximise their impact. Alternatively, a national organisation leading a major infrastructure programme may have already made this decision, so we would identify and map activities accordingly. 

3/ We are using data to improve our own social value practices here at AECOM

Data can also be used to improve social value practices within an organisation so that priorities and targets are being met.

Here at AECOM, we track quantitative data on a digital dashboard to evaluate activity and inform our evolving social value strategy. We gather and analyse data on the types of activities that our employees are carrying out during their own work-related volunteer time to see if we are making the best use of our employees’ talents and skill sets. For example, the data shows that a third of our staff time was spent on STEM activities in 2021, a key focus area of our social value activity that uses our technical expertise effectively. We can also analyse our geographic impact, so that our social value activity is distributed equitably across the areas we work so that no regions are left out.

By interrogating this data, we ensure we deliver outcomes that align with our strategic objectives, our technical and project expertise, our clients’ ambitions, and the needs of our communities.

Embedded equals effective

Crucially, the defining characteristic of a social value approach that uses data to best effect is that it is embedded right from the start and throughout the entire project lifecycle, from work winning and project planning through to delivery and completion. The same applies at an organisational level.

When social value is data-driven and measurable, it becomes real and impactful.