ADD2625 London Sustainable Development Commission’s Programme on Social Value in the Built Environment

1.1.    This piece of work is being commissioned by the GLA to support the work of the London Sustainable Development Commission (LSDC). The London Sustainable Development Commission was appointed in 2002 to independently advise the Mayor on ways to make London a more sustainable city and promote sustainability in London.

1.2.    Since 2019, the LSDC have been looking at how social value can be delivered as part of London’s regeneration and development, recognising the importance of placemaking in delivering on social and environmental outcomes. Since then, the LSDC have conducted research on the social and policy background to improve social value, convened a group of experts from a range of areas (policy, local authorities, developers, academics, and research) and conveyed a workshop to explore how effectively social value is currently being delivered through development and identify opportunities for improvement.

1.3.    In February 2021, following engagement with key stakeholder, the LSDC published an insights paper examining the role of social value in London’s recovery from the pandemic. Following this in August 2021 the LSDC published a Social Value Playbook, which highlights best practice examples for delivering social value in the built environment, with examples from London, the UK and oversees. 

1.4.    In August 2021, following a significant period of consultation the LSDC published Delivering Social Value through Development and Regeneration: An approach for London. The report makes six key recommendations aimed at stakeholders from across the built environment, including the Mayor of London (GLA), London boroughs, community groups, developers, and housing associations: 

-    Recommendation 1: Diversify, amplify, and resource/support the role and voice of communities to shape social value outcomes of development and regeneration
-    Recommendation 2: Emphasise the role of places and spaces in delivering social value
-    Recommendation 3: Provide tools and resources to support evidence-based decision making
-    Recommendation 4: Improve local authority capacity to demand, monitor and assess social value delivery across development and regeneration
-    Recommendation 5: Deliver social value consistently through London-wide policy
-    Recommendation 6: Advocate for policy changes to deliver robust and consistent social value policies across all stages of development and regeneration.

1.5.    In broad terms, the recommendations can be divided into three key areas; community engagement, data (to support evidenced based decision making) and planning policy.

1.6.    Since the publication of the report, the LSDC been working to advise on and embed social value measurement into the Annual Monitoring Report of the London Plan. Throughout this process the LSDC have been actively engaging GLA Planning and Regeneration Teams. 

1.7.    Following the publication of the social value report the LSDC has decided to focus its delivery activity on influencing future London Plan Policy. Embedding social value into the London Plan, gives a clear signal on the importance of social value and will create consistency in approach across the capital. It is also anticipated that this may catalyse Borough level activity to embed social value within local plans. 

1.8.    The proposed activity been discussed with GLA Planning and Regeneration teams, who are supportive of the work and have committed to formally recognising the LSDC as a key stakeholder within the Planning for London process (which this work will feed into). GLA Planning and Regeneration teams will be involved throughout the programme in the design of the specification and reviewing report drafts. 
 

2.1.    This work seeks to deliver on the Mayor’s vision for a ‘fairer, greener, and more prosperous city’. The work will develop planning policy solutions to embed social value into the London Plan, translating the LSDC recommendations into actionable planning deliverables. This work will feed directly into the Planning for London process, in which the LSDC will be formally recognised as a key stakeholder in the engagement process.  

2.2.    The planning policy recommendations will be presented in a short report, with this informed through engagement with stakeholders from across the built environment sector, including developers, local authorities, and community groups alongside the application of research and technical expertise. 

2.3.    The report will support planning decision makers to effectively embed social value into the London Plan, both recognising and reflecting the importance of the built environment in the social, environmental, and economic development of London.

2.4.    The report will be disseminated widely, with the key messages within communicated to a wider range of stakeholders. This work will be delivered via the LSDC’s dedicated communications provider, Social Communications. 
 

3.1.    The project will comply with the GLA’s public sector duty under the Equality Act 2010, working to promote equal opportunities, avoid unlawful harassment and discrimination, and foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2.    This work is not expected to have any negative impact on protected groups or others. 

3.3.    In developing this work, the LSDC worked to listen to diverse voices from across the built environment sphere (developers, community groups and local authorities) in the development of the Social Value report. Engaging consultants to support with embedding social value into the London Plan will work to ensure that development in London reflects the needs of the cities diverse communities and maximising social benefits through the planning process. 

3.4.    Unlawful discrimination will be avoided in the tender process through clear guidelines on how the contract is to be awarded. 

3.5.    This work is not expected to have any negative impact on protected groups or others. 
 

Key risks and issues

Links to Mayoral strategies and policies

4.1.    This work seeks to inform and help shape the London Plan, which is the strategic plan for London, setting out an economic, environmental, transport and social framework for development. This work will also be informed by wider Mayoral priorities, including policies on housing, culture, and the environment. 

Conflicts of interest

4.2.    There are no known conflicts of interest arising for any GLA officer or LSDC Commissioner, and bids will not be considered that have the potential to financially benefit any GLA officer or LSDC Commissioner involved in this project. 
Tender evaluation criteria

4.3.    Services will be procured via a recognised procurement framework. The framework to be used is the Urbanism and Design Framework (the development of which has been led by the GLA Regeneration team). Discussion have taken place with the GLA Regeneration team, who agree that the aims of the work programme align to the framework. 

4.4.    The evaluation process will be conducted to ensure that submissions are evaluated fairly to select the most economically advantageous offer. The quotation evaluation process will take account of the following:

4.5.    The letting of the contract will be managed by the GLA’ Strategy and Green Recovery Team, who perform the LSDC secretariat function. A contract will be granted after a competitive tender process.

4.6.    While for internal use the final outputs will be made available publicly, adhering to accessibility standards at the London.gov.uk website.
 

5.1.    Assistant Director’s approval is sought for expenditure of up to £30,000 on consultancy services to deliver stakeholder engagement, translate LSDC recommendations into actionable planning delivery, write a report on mechanisms to embed social value in the London Plan and support engagement with the GLA London Plan team. 

5.2.    This expenditure will be funded from the Strategy and Green Recovery Team Programme budget within the Environment Unit. Expenditure is profiled to be £20k from 2022-2023 and £10k from 2023-2024. There is sufficient budget in the current year and in the 2023-24 draft budget to support this.