Speak to an expert social value advisor now: +44 (0) 203 747 6555

SVP Webinar - The National TOMs COVID-19 Plug-in

Thank you to everyone who joined us on Monday the 27th of April to take part in the breakdown of our COVID-19 Plug-in for the National TOMs. You can download the presentation slides from the day by clicking the button below.

Special thanks to our panelists Guy Battle, Nathan Goode, Agnese Mizia and Terry Brewer for their time. Stay tuned for updates on future webinars and events!

Download the presentation slides >

*Please Note* Due to a technical error with the webinar software there is a missing chunk of footage around 5:23. Please refer to the presentation slides for Agnese Mizia’s breakdown of the TOMs.

We unfortunately didn’t have time to answer everyone’s questions during the Q&A session, so here are a few responses to unanswered queries that were posted:

Q – How long is this plug-in likely to remain in place? 

A- We expect the ‘React’ phase to be in place until at least until and will then be followed by the ‘Recover’ and ‘Renew’ phases.

Q – Would the digital/remote approach to providing local advice remain for the long-term? 

A – We think that once learned, this would be a good one to remain in ‘Recover’ and ‘Renew’ phases as it should lead to greater access.

Q – You mentioned a TOM to engage volunteers to support covid-19 support. If staff are furloughed but volunteer their time to support, can a business still claim SROI?

A – The social value delivered by furloughed staff should be reported, but if companies are not paying salaries, it means that they can’t claim the social value generated.  If they are making up staff salaries (say the additional 20%) the companies can claim proportionately to the amount that they make up.

Q – The COVID plug-in draws the distinction between policies to support groups and initiatives to support vulnerable groups. What is the difference in real terms between those activities? 

A – Initiatives are programmes, interventions  – while policies and strategies outline principles, approaches (usually at corporate level) and might detail programmes or interventions to be delivered.

Q – What feedback have you had from Local Authorities from your initial consultation (Number and content)? 

A – We consulted with the National Social Value Taskforce. We have had good feedback given the timescales. We will be going out to consultation again as we work to develop ‘Recover’ and ‘Renew’.

Q – Have you come across any concerns around how to link the new COVID measures to the subject matter of the contract in existing contracts? 

A – Not to date, although we have seen one isolated instance of a supplier (a large national business) seeking to cancel their contracted social value commitments entirely because of COVID-19.

Q – As the next stage after ‘React’ is the recovery phase, what role does community engagement have in terms of social value principles in empowering communities on the journey to the ‘new normal’? Any key aspects to focused on? 

A – We have not started to design the next stage, and so we have not identified specific aspects yet. We recognise community engagement always remains a relevant dimension to be taken into consideration, and we welcome any ideas on how this should be embedded into the ‘recover’ approach.

Q – If a large contractor would want to donate ££ to a local charity established by the council during this crisis – in which measure would fall under? would it be £1 for £1 or can you double up the multiplier? 

A – Multipliers are only used at procurement within prioritisation. Currently the multiplier goes up to 3. It should be dropped at measurement.

Q – How can we address the Covid and Standard Social Value measures with contracted suppliers receiving supplier relief or CJRS funding? 

A – Discussion needs to take place with suppliers on a case by case basis. There may be a recognition that suppliers are not currently in a position to meet some or all of their social value commitments; in which case, deferral or some modification may be appropriate. This would be preferable to simply dropping commitments altogether. As we mentioned in the webinar, the duration of the contract is a significant factor as long term contracts are more likely to see a return to standard social value measurement conditions.

Q – If staff on a contract are redeployed e.g. school transport like taxi drivers are redeployed to delivering parcels then does this count as social value? 

A – If a company is redeploying its staff from commercial activities to delivering food parcels (for instance) then this counts as social value.  If the staff are furloughed, then the company can only claim social value for the proportion of the salaries that it is funding

Q – Will there be an opportunity for large, more complex companies who are responding, across multiple contracts to C19, to work with you to adapt/use TOMs via SVP to measure corporate social value? Is this something to possibly explore as to how we might do this as opposed to being at contract level? 

A – Yes – we are looking for anyone who is interested in developing a joined-up approach to ‘Recover’ and ‘Renew’. Please do make contact with us at [email protected] and we will get in touch with you.

Q – Do the COVID-19 measures take into account long term benefits of the investments/measures put in place to support the community/employees? 

A – The Measures are currently focusing on mobilising resources and mitigating immediate negative impacts where possible. We will explicitly look at long term benefits with the following phases ‘Recover’ and ‘Renew’.

Q – On current contracts we have been working with and mentoring SME’s, could this be changed to mentoring an individual instead, also offering a lot of virtual support around careers to schools where would this be added in? 

A – This looks like a good idea we will consider exploring in the future.

Q – We are new to the TOMs, can you point us to where we can find out more about them? 

A – For more information visit our official page here.

Watch now

8743