THE NATIONAL TOMS FRAMEWORK 2019
The National TOMs were officially launched at the National Social Value Conference on the 14th of November 2017.
Updated proxy values and guidance have been published in November 2018 (at the second National Social Value Conference).
The National TOMs Real Estate Plug-In 2019 was also published. This is the first of the Sector Specific plug-ins to be published, and is available to download here.
Upcoming sector specific plug-ins will include:
- Facilities Management and Outsourcing Services
- Civil Works and Big Infrastructure
- Banking
To be kept up to date in the development of these Plug-Ins, or if you would like to contribute, please contact taskforce@socialvalueportal.com.
Why a National Measurement Framework?
The aim of the National TOMs Framework is to provide a minimum reporting standard for measuring social value. For those organisations (private and public) just starting out on their journey to embed social value into their procurement and management processes, it provides an easy to use solution that is immediately available, and may be applied to any project. For those organisations that are already well advanced, the hope is that they will integrate these standards into their measurement approach as a minimum, and add any Measures that they presently do not have in their own toolkit.
The principal benefits of a minimum and consistent reporting standard for social value are that it:
- Provides a consistent approach to measuring and reporting social value
- Allows for continuous improvement
- Provides a robust, transparent and defensible solution for assessing and awarding tenders
- Allows organisations to compare their own performance by sector and industry benchmarks and understand what good looks like
- Reduces the uncertainty surrounding social value measurement for businesses, allowing them to make informed decisions based on robust quantitative assessments and hence embed social value into their corporate strategies
The National TOMs Framework has been designed around 5 principal issues, 18 Outcomes and 35 Measures:
- Themes – The overarching strategic themes that an organisation is looking to pursue
- Outcomes – The objectives or goals that an organisation is looking to achieve that will contribute to the Theme.
- Measures – The measures that can be used to assess whether these Outcomes have been achieved. For the National TOMs Framework, these re action based and represent activities that a supplier could complete to support a particular desired outcome.
The 5 Themes are as follows:
- Promoting Skills and Employment: To promote growth and development opportunities for all within a community and ensure that they have access to opportunities to develop new skills and gain meaningful employment.
- Supporting the Growth of Responsible Regional Businesses: To provide local businesses with the skills to compete and the opportunity to work as part of public sector and big business supply chains.
- Creating Healthier, Safer and More Resilient Communities: To build stronger and deeper relationships with the voluntary and social enterprise sectors whilst continuing to engage and empower citizens.
- Protecting and Improving our Environment: To ensure the places where people live and work are cleaner and greener, to promote sustainable procurement and secure the long-term future of our planet.
- Promoting Social Innovation: To promote new ideas and find innovative solutions to old problems.
How can the National TOMs be used?
The National TOMs Framework has been designed to help organisations in four principal business activities. They are not exclusive to public sector organisations and may be used by public, private or third sector providers.
- Measurement and Valuation.
- Procurement and Bid Management.
- Bid Submissions.
- Contract Management.
Putting a value on ‘Social Value’
In this version of the National TOMs, we have also published a set of ‘Proxy Values’ that will allow users to assess the financial impact that any measure will make. It is of course recognised that social value is not all about ‘money’ but nonetheless this is an important metric to help understand the scale and breadth of impact that a measure can make. Importantly, it allows procuring bodies to compare tenders in a way that is proportional and relevant to the bid, and to better justify a procurement decision.
More than just measurement
Of course, it is important to measure what has been delivered and to maintain a record of past performance; that is the traditional role of measurement. The National TOMs Framework, however, looks to go much further and has been designed not only to measure what has already been done but also to deliver the change that organisations want to see. In this respect, the TOMs can be seen as an agent for change and each outcome and measure has been developed to reflect a need and to encourage businesses to become involved in supporting the fulfilment of that need.
Keeping the National TOMs ‘Live’
The National TOMs Framework is not a static tool and has to evolve to reflect changing needs and pressures in society. They will therefore be updated on an annual basis. Work on the National TOMs 2020 will start immediately following release of the 2019 edition, ready for consultation and subsequent publication in November 2019. Any organisation can make representations for additional Outcomes and Measures to be included and these will be debated and analysed by a newly formed research advisory board before final approval by the Social Value Taskforce.
For more information about their services contact: taskforce@socialvalueportal.com.
