Winston Intelligence
Suppliers should treat the new model as a reason to prepare better evidence, not as a licence to assume that the same social-value percentage or questions will appear in every public contract.
Scope first
Check the buyer, value and date.
The headline weightings are meaningful only after these boundaries are satisfied.
- Who is in scope
- Central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Other public bodies may choose to adopt the approach, but PPN 026 does not make it universal.
- Which procurements
- Covered procurements under the Procurement Act 2023 with a total contract value of at least £1 million including VAT. Private utilities contracts and contracts whose primary purpose is overseas delivery are excluded.
- When it starts
- Procurements commenced on or after 1 January 2027. The PPN treats publication of the tender notice as the commencement point.
- What happens before then
- For earlier Procurement Act procurements, in-scope organisations are encouraged to transition but may continue with the previous model where changing would require disproportionate resources or invalidate earlier market engagement.
What changes
Two minimum weighting bands.
Both thresholds use total contract value inclusive of VAT.
| Context | Published position |
|---|---|
| £1 million to below £5 million | At least 10% of the total score, or the stated equivalent measurement, for criteria selected from the Social Value Model. |
| £5 million or more | At least 20% of the total score, or the stated equivalent measurement. At least one social-value KPI should also be set. |
| Frameworks | Social value should be assessed when the framework is established and at call-off. The PPN notes that call-off assessment depends on it having been assessed at framework level. |
What suppliers can do now
Prepare evidence without guessing the tender.
The model gives suppliers a preparation signal. Use it to make delivery evidence more concrete.
- 1
Find the affected pipeline
Identify central-government opportunities likely to publish a tender notice from 1 January 2027 and check whether their estimated value reaches the inclusive-VAT threshold.
- 2
Map evidence to the new outcomes
Review evidence for good jobs, fair working conditions, routes into work for people facing barriers, and skills. Keep the evidence specific enough to become a measurable contract commitment.
- 3
Prepare for delivery evidence
Decide who would own each commitment, what baseline and measure would be used, and how delivery could be reported. Generic corporate-responsibility language is not a delivery plan.
- 4
Recheck before relying on it
Read the tender's own award criteria and the current official PPN. Cabinet Office said supporting guidance would follow in autumn 2026; that guidance may add detail suppliers need.
Keep the boundary clear
Do not turn the headline into a universal rule.
PPN 026 does not mean every council, NHS body, university or utility must use a 20% social-value weighting. It also does not replace the award criteria in the tender you are bidding for. Verify the buyer, procurement value, commencement date and published methodology each time.
Winston explains the public rule and helps you reach live procurement evidence. It does not yet interpret a methodology for your organisation or draft the response.
Primary sources
Check the transition at source.
Winston checked these official pages on 17 September 2026. The page is reviewed again when the promised supporting guidance appears or by 17 October 2026.