“Buying Social Justice” Through Procurement Research on the Use of Public Procurement for Advancing Employment Equality in the UK: Expert Interviews and Survey Data, 2021-2023

Wright, Tessa and Conley, Hazel and Mamode, Joyce C. and Sarter, E.K. (2025). “Buying Social Justice” Through Procurement Research on the Use of Public Procurement for Advancing Employment Equality in the UK: Expert Interviews and Survey Data, 2021-2023. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-856925

Around a third of all public spending is on procuring goods, works and services from the private sector. Therefore the idea of social procurement, or using public spending power to achieve additional social ends through the contracting process, is attractive to policymakers. This could include measures such as requiring a construction firm building a publicly-funded housing project to offer apprenticeships or jobs to local unemployed people. Although the idea of "buying social justice" through public procurement is encouraged by legislation, there is little research on the extent of its adoption or effectiveness, particularly for promoting equality. Therefore those involved in using public procurement to achieve additional equality objectives have little material on which to develop evidence-based policy and practice.
This research will provide the first evidence of how social procurement is being adopted by public authorities specifically to advance equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in employment, including groups protected under equality law and socio-economic inequality. It will focus on the UK construction and infrastructure sector, as a key industry for post-coronavirus economic recovery and growth, contributing £413bn to GDP annually, employing 9% of the workforce. The sector is facing skills shortages, exacerbated by Brexit, which has focused attention on filling labour gaps through the recruitment of a more diverse workforce. Construction has long been a predominantly white, male industry, with a workforce of only 13% women and 6% black and minority ethnic (BME) workers, despite numerous EDI initiatives. Our previous research has shown that demanding action to improve workforce diversity through public procurement can be an effective mechanism for change, as used in the construction of London's Olympic Park where numbers of women and BME workers increased.
The legal frameworks that enable public procurement to achieve 'social value' from procurement have developed differently across the UK in recent years, with stronger obligations in Scotland and Wales than in England. The research will use this opportunity to undertake a comparative analysis of the impact of the differing legislative frameworks on policy and practice on social procurement.
A main objective of the research is to have an impact on practice in the use of social procurement to advance employment equality, through identifying examples of good practice and barriers to its uptake. The research will develop recommendations and a toolkit for use by those involved in social procurement for equality ends - whether as public commissioners/buyers, procurement or equality practitioners, contractors, representatives of employees or civil society - who have been consulted on the design of the project and will be involved in the development of the research and its outputs through a project advisory board. The project uses mixed methods, including a survey and case studies. A survey of public bodies in England, Wales and Scotland - local authorities, higher education institutions and housing associations - will establish the extent of policy and practice on the use of social procurement to achieve employment equality objectives. All three groups spend large amounts of public money on construction projects, and are subject to legal requirements that they should consider the social value and equality implications of such spending. Case studies will be produced to highlight good practice in the area of social procurement from the three types of public bodies in England, Wales and Scotland, as well as a national infrastructure project and two innovative transport authorities. Recommendations and a practitioner toolkit on equality and procurement will be developed with project partners, to be disseminated widely, through a practitioner conference, commissioner networks and industry communication channels including journal articles and social media.

Data description (abstract)

The data collection includes interviews with key experts and responses to a survey of procurement officers. In order to gain contextual information on the practice of social procurement in England, Wales and Scotland, 33 expert interviews were conducted with a range of individuals, from commissioning organisations and their representative bodies covering local authorities, housing associations and higher education institutions; policy makers; representatives of construction contractors; framework providers; equality experts with an interest in procurement; procurement and social value consultants and legal experts; and civil society organisations, including trade unions. The interviewees included experts in Scottish, Welsh, English and UK-wide procurement and equality practice.
A survey was conducted to establish the extent of the inclusion of employment equality objectives within public procurement, as well as the motivations, processes and outcomes of using social procurement. Responses were received from 109 procurement officers in local authorities, housing associations and higher education institutions, plus some others, across England, Wales and Scotland.

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