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PPN 002 Calculator

Methodology

How the calculator turns your committed measures into an evaluator-ready social value figure.

What is PPN 002?

Procurement Policy Note 002 was issued by the Cabinet Office in February 2025. It sets a mandatory minimum 10% weighting for social value in the evaluation of in-scope central-government contracts, superseding PPN 06/20 for those buyers.

References: Cabinet Office PPN 002 (Feb 2025); Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as amended; Procurement Act 2023 (in force 24 Feb 2025).

The 10% threshold

The 10% applies to the evaluation weighting for social value. In practice, bidders respond with TOMs-aligned commitments whose monetised value (sum of quantity × proxy value) divided by contract value evidences how the supplier intends to clear that bar.

The calculator flags Met when your committed quantities reach 10% of contract value, and Below 10%otherwise - this mirrors what a buyer's scoring sheet would conclude on the monetised dimension.

The National TOMs framework

TOMs - Themes, Outcomes and Measures - is the standard library used to describe and monetise social-value commitments across UK public procurement. Each measure has a stable code (e.g. APPRENTICESHIP_12M), a unit, and a proxy financial value.

The 12 measures presented in the wizard are a curated short list covering all five PPN 002 missions. The full canonical library is held server-side in the toms_measures_library table - the backend joins by measure_code and recomputes the totals authoritatively.

Oxford SVB proxy values (2023-24)

Proxy values come from the Oxford Social Value Bank, 2023-24 update. The Oxford SVB is the de-facto reference set used across UK PPN 002 / PPN 06/20 scoring submissions and approximates the wellbeing, fiscal, or environmental benefit per unit delivered.

Examples: an apprenticeship of 12+ months carries an £8,460 proxy per apprenticeship; a tonne of CO₂e avoided carries a £238 proxy per tonne; a long-term-unemployed person placed into work carries an £17,890 proxy per person per year. Values are reviewed annually.

How proxy_value × quantity sums

For each committed measure:

measure_sv = quantity × proxy_value_gbp
total_sv   = Σ measure_sv across all committed measures
sv_pct     = (total_sv / contract_value_gbp) × 100
threshold_met = sv_pct >= 10

The mission breakdown shown alongside the headline figure is computed from the canonical ppn_missions table - each measure's value is allocated to its primary mission and the percentages sum to 100%.

Regulation references

  • Cabinet Office Procurement Policy Note 002 (February 2025) - mandatory 10% social value weighting.
  • Procurement Act 2023 - in force 24 February 2025; re-frames the UK's public-procurement regime.
  • Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 - the underlying primary legislation.
  • National TOMs framework - Social Value Portal, 2024 update.
  • Oxford Social Value Bank (Oxford SVB), 2023-24 proxy values update - basis for monetised measure values.

Methodology FAQs

Why is 10% the social value threshold?
Procurement Policy Note 002 (Feb 2025) sets a mandatory minimum 10% weighting for social value in the evaluation of central-government contracts above the relevant threshold. The 10% applies to scoring weight at evaluation; suppliers typically respond with TOMs-aligned commitments whose monetary value, divided by contract value, evidences the weighting.
What is the National TOMs framework?
TOMs stands for Themes, Outcomes and Measures. The framework - stewarded by the Social Value Portal and adopted across UK public procurement - provides a standard library of measures (e.g. APPRENTICESHIP_12M, CO2_TONNE_AVOIDED) that suppliers can commit to and report against, each with a monetised proxy value.
Where do the proxy values come from?
We use the Oxford Social Value Bank (Oxford SVB) 2023-24 update - the de-facto reference set used across UK PPN 002 / PPN 06/20 scoring submissions. Each measure's proxy value approximates the wellbeing, fiscal, or environmental benefit per unit delivered.
How is the calculation performed?
For each committed measure: social value = quantity × proxy_value. The calculator sums these across all your committed measures, then divides by your contract value to produce the percentage. Anything at or above 10% meets the PPN 002 minimum. The Railway backend recomputes this server-side against the canonical TOMs library so the figures are evaluator-ready.
Does this replace a real social value submission?
No. This is a free planning tool to help bidders sense-check whether their proposed commitments will clear the 10% threshold. A real PPN 002 submission requires evidence, signed commitments, and (often) a buyer-specific scoring rubric. CrowMark - the paid CrowAgent product - handles the full bid lifecycle including narrative generation and evidence packs.

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