A PROGRESS check is being made on a Flintshire Council programme supporting the some of the most vulnerable people in the county.

When it meets on January 21, Flintshire Council's cabinet will hear what progress has been made in delivering its Social Value Strategy - approved in March 2019.

Cabinet members will also be asked to endorse the draft Social Value Procurement Policy.

The council has a commitment to delivering greater social value through the work that it does; this means Flintshire communities can benefit as a result of its spending and services.

The main priorities for social value delivery in the next 12 months will include support for Flintshire’s food poverty programme, reducing fuel poverty; support to reduce energy use and waste, support for the Armed Forces Covenant, promoting equality of opportunity and providing apprenticeship and work experience opportunities.

It also aims to increase the use of local companies in the supply chain, reduce homelessness, support dementia friendly initiatives and support for employment for marginalised young people and for looked after children.

And the council has laid out three means to achieve these goals; namely, "allowing third sector organisations to show the social value generated through their work which will help them secure resources and contracts". "By encouraging local and regional companies to strengthen their approaches to corporate social responsibility" and "supporting public sector service managers to broaden their awareness of the impacts of their work on the community".

The scheme already has some success stories, including the development of the new Adult Day Care Centre in Queensferry.

This saw six jobs created, 610 school or college students visiting the construction site as part of their studies, 15 work experience placements, six apprenticeship opportunities arise and 18 interviews provided to disadvantaged candidates.

Councillor Billy Mullin, Flintshire Council cabinet member for corporate management and assets, said: “Currently, social value is generated predominantly through larger contracts worth more than £1m.

"Larger suppliers and contractors have significant experience in generating social value. The draft Social Value Procurement Policy will challenge service managers to think broadly about the services and goods being procured and consider how wider social value could be generated.

“Delivering increased social value will be a key tool in helping the council demonstrate how the Well-being of Future Generations Act is being delivered on the ground. Implementing the strategy also provides an opportunity to build good practice across the public service board partners where there is considerable interest in working together on developing social value.”

Another positive scheme has been the delivery of domestic energy efficiency improvements for poorer households - namely a £900,000 procured contract between the council and local company Wall-lag.

And all of the staff employed in delivering the contract live within the sub-region, while Wall-lag will also provide the equivalent to 0.5 per cent of all expenditure made through the contract as a crisis fund for improvements to the homes of the most vulnerable in Flintshire.