Accelerating NHS reform – Levelling the playing field to unlock social enterprises

This report, published by the Social, Cooperative and Community Economy All-Party Parliamentary Group, examines why public procurement is still not consistently delivering social value, despite the legislative framework created by the Social Value Act, the Procurement Act 2023 and the National Procurement Policy Statement. Drawing on evidence from social enterprises, local authorities, the private sector and civil society, the report highlights the structural barriers that continue to lock social enterprises out of markets they are often best placed to serve. It concludes with a series of recommendations for government, including reforming how social value is measured, creating a social enterprise verification system, and simplifying access to procurement for mission-led organisations.

In 2016, Social Enterprise UK launched the Buy Social Corporate Challenge – a groundbreaking initiative working with a group of high-profile businesses to collectively spend £1 billion with social enterprises through their procurement. This report covers progress on the Challenge from 2016 - 2025. Find out more about the impact of this programme, the opportunities it's created and how it has transformed the way big businesses use their procurement function. You'll also find out how close we now are to reaching that ambitious £1 billion target!

On Wednesday 25 March 2026, leaders from across the private, public and social enterprise sectors came together at the Strand Palace Hotel to discuss and debate the future of social value, one year after the passing of the Procurement Act and the opportunities it presented to social enterprises. This short report summarises some of the key discussion points which emerged from the workshops, panel discussions and keynote speeches from Professor Mariana Mazzucato, Josh Babarinde MP and Deputy Mayor of London for Environment and Energy - Mete Coban. It brings together an overview of the recent changes to the procurement landscape and the opportunities they provide for VCSEs, and also looks in detail at the main challenges raised by attendees when it comes to embedding social value at the heart of public and private contracts.