Our aim
The Government of Jersey’s Commercial Services Team brings together the disciplines of Commercial and Procurement within a single directorate.
Our aim is to deliver real commercial benefits to the organisation and our Island. Along with:
- improved Commercial and Procurement outcomes
- enhanced governance
- robust commercial risk management
We will facilitate the delivery of greater benefits and increased value for money from Government spending.
Working with teams throughout Government, we approach all Commercial and Procurement activity with greater understanding by using improved policies, mechanisms, and processes to better deliver our services.
We issue standards, guidance, and toolkits to provide practical approaches and make doing business easier.
Our approach
Our approach will highlight the significance of Social Value, where we work with suppliers to deliver economic, social and environmental benefits to the Island of Jersey and its importance in helping to deliver positive and sustainable outcomes.
Our goal
Our goal is to create a capability that is customer centric, flexible, and tailored to departmental needs across the organisation. We want to build a strong, centralised service that upskills and supports colleagues, driving consistency and delivering efficiencies and informed planning for increased value.
Procurement
The development of a strategic procurement approach, and the establishment of strategic category management across Capital and Revenue, as well as providing advisory support towards multiple strands of expenditure. The procurement team aim to deliver value for money and quality outcomes for both Government and wider States by:
- adopting a strategic role in all procurement matters
- reducing risk
- increasing supply chain efficiency
- building strong relationships within the supply chain
Commercial advisory
Providing an advisory service and support to help everybody across Government achieve a Buying Advantage.
The team operates in areas including Grant Schemes, governance and standards development for Arm's Length Organisations, and key strategic programmes.
Support is also available to:
- provide deep subject matter expertise in areas including Social Value
- contract templates
- contract management
- disputes
- commercial issues
Business services
The establishment of clear and transparent data to facilitate insight-led decision making, process management and consolidation, ITS support through development and implementation, governance, risk management and commercial upskilling through training.
The Business Services team is the ‘engine room’ of the Directorate, delivering best practice and ease of use across the commercial lifecycle.
Our ongoing service redesign aims to ensure that, by 2025, we will be a capable Commercial Services directorate that enables collaborative design, delivery, and implementation of innovative and sustainable outcomes to help protect our Island and the public purse.
We want to go beyond delivering financial value by ensuring that commercial operations:
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improve the wellbeing of Islanders
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protect the environment
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help to assure Jersey's long-term economic future
Social Value
Social Value means considering the wider social, economic and environmental impact of our commercial activity. It’s about thinking how we can use the money we spend on goods and services to deliver the most benefits for our Island.
By delivering Social Value through our procurement processes and contractual agreements, we’re making sure that we work with suppliers and organisations who share our values, to deliver positive outcomes and additional value for Jersey.
We have a moral responsibility as Government to take every opportunity to deliver positive social, economic and environmental outcomes for Jersey. We cannot afford not to as a missed opportunity to deliver Social Value is a cost that has to be absorbed somewhere else in our public services.
Social Value is important because embedding this into commercial processes enables us to shift the focus from just the bottom-line price or cost of services or goods, towards the overall value of commitments.
To deliver Social Value we:
- invest into our local businesses and supply chain
- push for local job creation and employment opportunities
- foster apprenticeships and skills development
- mandate Jersey living wage
- support local charities and social enterprises
- call for environmentally sustainable procurement practices and supports the Carbon Neutral Roadmap by reducing our Scope 3 emissions
Our Social Value agenda links in with the Island Outcomes from the Jersey Performance Framework and Future Jersey Vision.
Future Jersey Vision
Social
Improve social mobility by creating local employment opportunities for long-term unemployed and other disadvantaged or underrepresented groups, as well as supporting health and wellbeing
Economic
Foster an inclusive and resilient Jersey economy by working with our supply chains to improve on-Island skills and capability and remove barriers for micro and small businesses, as well as for social enterprises, for tender opportunities.
Environmental
Protect our environment for future generations by focusing on reducing waste and consumption, decarbonising Government activities and safeguarding local wildlife and biodiversity.
Types of Social Value
There are 3 types of Social Value:
Inherent Social Value
These are the changes that occur because of the contract being fulfilled.
For example, a contract to renovate a school would improve educational outcomes for the Island.
Embedded Social Value
This is the Social Value created through the delivery of a contract and forms part of the specification requirements from Government.
For example, working with suppliers who prioritise Social Value and sustainability as ‘business as usual’, specifying that off-Island suppliers must sub-contract to local suppliers and setting out waste and decarbonisation requirements.
Additional Social Value
This is the Social Value created by the supplier that goes over and above the delivery of a contract.
For example, offering training courses for local people facing unemployment throughout the contract period, volunteering for local organisations or mentoring small, local businesses.
What Social Value means for suppliers
Social Value makes sure all types of organisations have the same opportunity to tender for Government contracts and that no organisations are at a disadvantage.
We do not want Social Value commitments to be difficult for suppliers. We’ll consider the size of your organisation and relationship with the Government during the evaluation of the Social Value section of your bid response.
Your Social Value responses should focus equally on embedded and additional Social Value.
Social Value in Government’s commercial and procurement activity will work to deliver on the following outcomes:
- affordable living
- business environment
- built environment
- healthy, active lives
- jobs and growth
- learn and grow
- natural environment
- safety and security
- sustainable resources
- vibrant and inclusive community
You’ll be asked about Social Value at the beginning of supplier engagement and within the invitation to tender.
The tender will ask suppliers to:
- identify what you do generally as an organisation to contribute to the sustainable wellbeing of the Island
- outline Social Value commitments that support the GoJ Social Value outcomes, are additional to the contract and support our Island specifically
Your Social Value commitments should deliver ‘additional’ Social Value and be over and above the requirements of the contract, at zero cost to Government.
For example, a contract to provide mental health awareness training to Government employees is not delivering additional Social Value.
If you commit to deliver mental health awareness training to a local youth group on top of the delivery of this contract, this would be delivering additional Social Value benefits.
How we evaluate suppliers’ commitments
Social Value commitments will be considered alongside quality and price when we evaluate commercial activity, with at least a 10% overall weighting given to the Social Value aspect of the evaluation, to ensure that we obtain the best value for money as well as additional benefits for the wider Island community.
‘CSR’ is not contract-specific and, although it should be included in your response as embedded Social Value, it will not adequately address the Social Value evaluation criteria as we’re looking for additional Social Value commitments that directly benefit the islanders of Jersey.
To make sure Social Value is delivered, all Social Value commitments given in your bid or tender response will be finalised with you and included within the contract.
Once finalised, these commitments should be included as key performance indicators (KPIs) to make sure the success of Social Value can be measured and quantified. It’s through these KPIs that we can determine whether your organisation is achieving its Social Value objectives.
The day-to-day measure of performance against Social Value will be managed by the Commercial or Contract Manager who will review progress of delivery against the committed KPIs in specific contracts.
Social Value should also be included on the agenda for on-going performance and monitoring meetings, as well as annual contract review meetings, to evidence the Social Value benefits achieved and help identify actions where appropriate.
All monetary or material Social Value should be delivered directly by the supplier. This ensures that Social Value commitments directly benefit local organisations and suppliers can track and monitor their Social Value commitments.
There are a variety of local organisations that would appreciate Social Value:
gov.je