Public Sector Commissioners
Commissioners
SROI enables commissioners to identify and value any important factors that are currently excluded from the price of the service they are responsible for, i.e. social value.
This means commissioners may assess and value actual or potential outcomes from an activity and use this analysis to inform budget setting, strategic planning (including definition of user requirements), selection of commissioning mechanisms, evaluation of performance and even award criteria.
SROI provides a means to: -
- Map the full range of outcomes of a service and consider other relevant outcomes.
- Value these outcomes in order to make a comprehensive and informed assessment about value for money.
- Frame the discussion on where these outcomes are relevant and how they may be included in commissioning.
Commissioners can use the principles of SROI to: -
- Improve services and their outcomes
- Unlock potential in their supply base
- Reconfigure services to change commissioning practice to better meet people's needs.
- Support or evidence links to policy objectives and avoid unintended consequences.
- Save money
Commissioners may not need or want to develop full SROI reports to a standard that could be assured but will find that using the principles of SROI improves the analysis available to them.
A practical guide for commissioners on using SROI can be found at the Publications page.
