PPN 002’s Social Value Model Missions Explained and Applied: Clean Energy Superpower

How To Implement The New Social Value Model Missions in your Business

This blog looks at PPN 002 and the Social Value Model published in February 2025. This Model applies only to in-scope contracts published between October 2025 and August 2026, some of those published between February 2025 and October 2025, and some of those published between August 2026 and December 2026. From January 2027, it is superseded by PPN 026.

February 2025 saw the publication of a new Social Value Model, which replaces the five Themes in the 2021 edition with five Missions. Among these Social Value Model missions is the Clean Energy Superpower initiative, highlighting the drive towards sustainable solutions.

In this series of blogs, we’ll dive deep into each of the Missions to show how your organisation can demonstrate more social value and win more public sector business in the months and years ahead under PPN 002.

But if you’re ready to explore just what “Clean Energy Superpower” means for social value, read on!

What are the Social Value Model Missions?

In July 2024, the Labour Party was elected on a platform of “five missions to rebuild Britain” – broad socio-economic goals that it would pursue across the full range of policy areas while in government. 

The five Missions are as follows:

PPN 002 and the Social Value Model launched in February 2025 state in no uncertain terms that central government public procurement needs to promote these Missions by delivering social value. 

How do the Social Value Model Missions Help Create a Clean Energy Superpower?

Just one of the eight Policy Outcomes in the Social Value Model relates to the Clean Energy Superpower mission:

Sustainable procurement practices: reducing carbon footprints, minimising waste, and promoting the use of clean energy and green technologies.

At the level of Model Award Criteria (MACs), this Outcome is split into two areas:

• 4a Deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
• 4b Influence staff, suppliers, customers and communities through the delivery of the contract to support climate and nature protection and improvement

In this way, the Clean Energy Superpower Mission is worded so as to be virtually identical to the Fighting Climate Change Theme in the old Model. Under the latter’s “Effective stewardship of the environment” Policy Outcome are two parallel MACs:

• MAC 4.1 Deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract including working towards net zero greenhouse gas emissions
• MAC 4.2 Influence staff, suppliers, customers and communities through the delivery of the contract to support environmental protection and improvement

This makes the transition from PPN06/20 to PPN 002 very straightforward, as far as environmentally-focused social value is concerned.

Standard Reporting Metrics

Four of the Standard Reporting Metrics (SRMs) set out in the Model relate to MAC 4a, and one to MAC 4b: 

• 4ai Annual reduction in carbon emissions arising from the performance of the contract, measured in metric tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCDE)
• 4aii Annual reduction in water use arising from the performance of the contract, measured in litres
• 4aiii Annual reduction in waste to landfill arising from the performance of the contract, measured in metric tonnes
• 4aiv. Size of green spaces in m2 created under the contract, by UK region
• 4bi Number of hours spent influencing staff, customers and communities to support the environment

4ai, 4aii, 4aiii, and 4aiv are word-for-word identical to Reporting Metrics under MACs 4.1 and 4.2. One vague metric from the old Model (“Number of people-hours spent protecting and improving the environment under the contract, by UK region”) is no longer present, and one relating to education and awareness-raising has been added.

This relatively minor shift from Model to Model illustrates the purpose of Standard Reporting Metrics (SRMs) well. SRMs are intended to standardise how various social value measures are reported between authorities and suppliers – resolving a major bone of contention around the old Social Value Model.

Dropping a vague metric that lends itself to multiple different interpretations and adding in something very specific is characteristic of this approach.

But while this is an improvement in many respects, the SRMs as stated are fairly rigid. They don’t allow much nuance, tailoring to specific projects and local needs, or provide scope for the kind of innovation in social value delivery Preliminary Market Engagement is meant to promote.

That’s why the extensive Guide to the Social Value Model makes it clear that:

“Where the deliverable is not listed in the model list of SRMs or it is not appropriate or proportionate to use one of the SRMs, the authority should agree an appropriate metric with the supplier.”

What You Can Do Now

The PPN 002 Social Value Model is being used concurrently with the PPN06/20 version during 2025:

• Until 30/9/25, contracting authorities can decide which Model to use
• From 1/10/25, the PPN 002 version must be used
• Procurement processes begun or contracts awarded before 24/2/25 (including frameworks) are not affected by the new Model

The clock is ticking, so if you don’t know how to get ready, here are five steps you should take right now:

1. Check Your Carbon Reduction Plan

Under the terms of PPN 006/21 (reiterated in this year’s PPN 016), suppliers bidding for contracts worth £5 million or more must have a Carbon Reduction Plan, showing how they will get to Net Zero. A Carbon Reduction Plan has to include your current carbon footprint as well as the steps being taken to reduce it to net zero by 2050. If you don’t have a CRP in place, you won’t be eligible to bid for these major contracts. If you do, review it and make sure that your organisation is sticking to it – because contracting authorities are entitled to check that suppliers “remain committed to achieving net zero prior to entering into any contract”.

2. Focus on Influencing Others

The inclusion of SRM 4b is a very clear signal that the government is putting a priority on educational work in social value. Look for opportunities to:

• Organise community events in areas affected by your works to increase understanding of your environmental impact
• Provide training and volunteering opportunities for employees and contract workforces to enable them to make a difference to the environment
• Tighten up and explain your own procurement policies, to encourage your supply chain to cut emissions and waste

3. Play to Your Strengths

Contracting authorities are being encouraged to build tender requirements around promoting just one Policy Outcome “to focus and streamline the process for suppliers”. You will be able to concentrate the effectiveness of your bids by building your social value offers around the demands of individual Outcomes and their MACs, rather than spreading your efforts out thinly.

4. Boost your SME/VCSE Spending

The National Procurement Policy Statement (published at the same time as PPN 002) requires in-scope organisations to set three year targets for direct spend with SMEs (from 1/4/25) and two year targe for VCSEs (from 1/4/26).

• If you are an SME or VCSE this requirement – along with the explicit ruling out of volume criteria – gives you a meaningful advantage.
• If you’re not, start diversifying your supply chain to include more of these organisations now. If you don’t know where to start, there are membership bodies such as Social Enterprise UK that offer services and have free online directories to help you identify social enterprises

5. Measure Your Way to Success with Thrive

If you’re not already using the Thrive platform, get a demo today.

• Thrive is the only social value measurement platform authorised to use the Impact Evaluation Standard, which has been built specifically around the Social Value Model’s requirements and is overseen by an independent Steering Committee of recognised industry experts
  • The new Social Value Model prioritises transparent in-contract reporting against social value deliverables. Thrive provides user-friendly, highly customisable tools and dashboards, with the ability to store pictures and context alongside data for better storytelling, and with no extra licence costs or even a need to log in for third parties submitting data for you. It even includes a state-of-the-art report builder for those of you without access to design resources!
  • Our detailed case studies from satisfied customers speak for themselves and show the wide range of uses cases – besides winning more public sector business – that our social value module is being put to.

Quantity and quality of data promises to be key to succeeding with PPN 002. This is yet another step beyond the era of “show them your company policies” towards a true requirement to demonstrate social impact