Social Economic Environmental Social Value

COUNTY DURHAM POUND

Social Value Knowledge Hub

County Durham is an area that spans 862 square miles and over half a million people call home. As we focus on creating a future that is more equal and sustainable, there is an opportunity to accomplish a seismic shift in the way that people, organisations and communities work together for the collective benefit of County Durham.

Through the County Durham Pound project, the ability to drive long-term social, economic and environmental benefits – or social value – is huge. This Social Value Knowledge Hub aims to keep the people of County Durham informed of the project’s progress and create a space for you to send us your ideas and feedback.

COMPANIES INVOLVEDCONTACT US

The power of the collective

Who We Are

The County Durham Pound project involves a number of organisations committed to working together to maximise social, economic and environmental value throughout the county. This could be via procurement decisions and the way our suppliers are selected; how we operate as responsible and ethical employers; or, how our grant funding is allocated.

 

One of the largest housing associations in the North East of England, with a primary focus in County Durham, managing 18,000 homes and employing 540 people

Business Durham is the business support service for Durham County Council

Responsible for County Durham and the borough of Darlington, serving a population of over 620,000 people 

Durham County Council is local authority governed and serves over 508,500 people who live in the county

The Durham Police and Crime Commission was elected by the public to make the communities in the force area safer, stronger, and more resilient to crime and anti-social behaviour

A public research university located in Durham. It is part of the Russell Group universities and has over 19,500 students enrolled

karbon homes partner logo

A housing association with almost 30,000 homes across the North East and Yorkshire

Local housing provider currently managing over 8,400 homes across County Durham

New College Durham logo

Further and higher education college and a sixth form, based in County Durham

Northumbrian Water provides water and wastewater services to 2.7 million people in the North East of England

WORKING TOGETHER

Our Commitments

We are committed to create a future that is more equal and sustainable, we have the opportunity to accomplish a seismic shift in the way that we work together for the collective benefit of County Durham.

 

Collaborate proactively

We will share ideas and learn from each other’s experience and best practice in social value

 

Embed relevant processes

We will develop suitable processes to ensure high quality delivery and to meet the project’s deadlines

 

Empower stakeholders

We will hear the concerns and ideas of community members and other stakeholders across the public, private and third sectors

 

Respond to local needs

We will ensure that our social value activities address local needs and priorities wherever possible

 

Transparent & accountable

We will share what we intend to do and why, plus how we are progressing, so you can hold us accountable

 

Track, report, learn & improve

We will track and report what we are all doing using a consistent framework so that we are driving continuous improvement

Generating Opportunities

Our Objectives 

 

Create more jobs for local people

 

Reduce our impact on the environment

 

Support with meaningful training and upskilling

 

Help community groups and charities

 

Prioritise better health and wellbeing

 

Focus on equality, diversity and inclusion

TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE

Resources

 

Statement
of Intent

Details of our commitments to you
and our overarching approach

VIEW STATEMENT
 

Reporting Framework

Our Social Value Measurement and Reporting Framework for the County Durham Family

VIEW FRAMEWORK
 

Local Needs
Analysis

Research, data and insights about local needs and priorities. Relevant as of March 2022

VIEW DATA
 

Training
Videos

Videos of training sessions to complement the Social Value Guidance documents

view VIDEOS
 

Social Value Guidance

For organisations bidding for contracts and tenders that include social value requirements

VIEW GUIDANCE
 

ACHIEVING POSITIVE OUTCOMES

 

Frequently Asked Questions

Durham County Council (DCC) is committed to delivering social value and maximising the value of every pound spent in the area. Hence, ‘The County Durham Pound’ project was established in 2021 to increase Social Value and Local Wealth Building.

One of the ten initiatives proposed within the project was to establish a local ‘County Durham Procurement Family’ network with public sector partners (anchor institutions) to improve placed based procurement and local spending, collaborative sourcing (where appropriate) and local social value impact. This grew to include private sector businesses too and ‘The County Durham Family’ was formed in late 2021 with representatives from several local institutions.

Local wealth building means collaborating with residents, businesses, and partner organisations to create and retain wealth within communities. This could be through promoting locally owned and socially minded enterprises, establishing local supply chains, or managing assets to allow communities greater control of the buildings and land in their area.

Social value is all about organisations going above and beyond their business as usual to generate social, economic and environmental benefits for the communities that they live and work in and for society as a whole.

Individuals and employers deploy a wide range of actions which make a real difference to people’s lives. This might include awarding contracts to local suppliers, donating to public realm projects, providing staff to volunteer for good causes, hiring apprentices, or giving serving prisoners work experience so they can gain confidence and new skills. More information can be found here.

We will add highlights and case studies from the project to this Knowledge Hub so that partners, the public and local community groups can keep updated. We will add metrics as we acquire the evidence from the social value measurement and reporting framework and you will be able to see quantified outcomes like the number of new apprenticeships created or the tonnes of carbon emissions that have been reduced.

In the coming weeks, look out for our monthly ‘Partner in the spotlight’. Here you will find out more about each partner and how they are contributing to the County Durham Pound Project.

A Supporter is an organisation that supports the aims and objectives of the project but are currently unable to formally commit to being a signatory of the Statement of Intent and the commitments within it. As a Supporter your organisation will be publicly recognised on this Knowledge Hub as being part of the project and you will have access to resources and the opportunity to collaborate with partners on social value initiatives.

Being a Supporter could be helpful to organisations just starting their social value journeys as they will learn from the experience of others in the County Durham Family.

There are lots of ways to get involved and please use the Contact Us form to get in touch.

We are always looking for new charities or community groups within County Durham to engage with or support. We also want to be able to offer guidance for suppliers that are seeing social value appear in tenders and need some help to navigate that.

Or, if you want to become a Supporter of the project then please just let us know.

GET INVOLVED

Contact Us

Please get in touch if you would like to share your ideas and case studies or become a Supporter of the County Durham Pound project.

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    Social Value Portal manages the content of this page on behalf of the County Durham Pound project partners. We are not responsible for third party content.