Quick answer
Social criteria in award are qualitative factors related to employment, working conditions, community benefit, or social integration that contracting authorities may include in the award stage of a public procurement, assessed as part of the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) evaluation under Article 67 of Directive 2014/24/EU, provided they are linked to the subject matter of the contract.
Social criteria in award sit at the intersection of procurement efficiency and social policy. They allow contracting authorities to use their purchasing power to advance employment, integration, and community goals without departing from the principles of transparency, equal treatment, and non-discrimination that European procurement law requires. The critical constraint is linkage: social criteria must be connected to what is being procured, not to who the supplier is as an organisation.
What are social criteria in award?
Article 67(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU sets out that award criteria may include social characteristics when they are linked to the subject matter of the contract. The Court of Justice of the European Union has elaborated this requirement through case law: "linked to the subject matter" means that the criterion must relate to the production, provision, or process by which the contracted output is delivered, not to the general corporate conduct of the supplier.
Permissible social award criteria include requirements that the contractor will employ a specified proportion of long-term unemployed workers in delivering the contract, provide apprenticeship or training places for young people, ensure that workers on the contract are paid at or above a specified living wage, include people with disabilities in the project team, or source a proportion of inputs from social enterprises or sheltered workshops.
Criteria that award marks based on a company's overall CSR policies, general charitable giving, or historical employment record across all contracts are not linked to the subject matter of the specific contract and risk legal challenge.
In the UK, social value in procurement has become the dominant framing for these criteria. UK central government contracts must include a minimum 10 percent social value weighting in the award evaluation. The UK Procurement Act 2023 requires authorities to report on how social value commitments were delivered during contract performance, creating an accountability loop that was absent under the previous regime.
Community benefit clauses are the contractual mechanism through which social award commitments are converted into enforceable obligations after contract award.
Why it matters for bidders
Social award criteria require a qualitative response: suppliers must not only commit to social outcomes but explain how they will be delivered, measured, and reported. Vague commitments score poorly. Contracting authorities are looking for specific, verifiable, and proportionate commitments that are realistic given the scale and nature of the contract.
Organisations in the VCSE sector and social enterprises often have structural advantages in demonstrating social award criteria because their mission and workforce composition naturally align with the outcomes buyers seek. Commercial suppliers can compete effectively if they build genuine supply chain partnerships with social enterprises or invest in apprenticeship programmes that they can credibly evidence.
Example
A Swedish county council procures home care services and includes a 25 percent weighting for social criteria in the award, covering: long-term unemployed workers employed on the contract (10 percent), apprenticeships provided during the contract term (8 percent), and worker wellbeing including sick leave rates and staff turnover targets (7 percent). Each criterion is assessed against a plan submitted at tender stage and reported against during contract performance. A bidder that commits to hiring five long-term unemployed workers per 100 full-time equivalents, providing two apprenticeships per year, and maintaining an annual staff turnover below 20 percent scores full marks on the social criteria component.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a buyer require that subcontractors also meet social criteria?
Yes. Contracting authorities may extend social criteria to subcontractors as contract performance conditions under Article 70 of Directive 2014/24/EU. This is increasingly common in larger contracts where the prime contractor's delivery depends substantially on a supply chain. The requirement must be stated in the procurement documents and cannot be imposed retroactively after contract award.
What happens if a supplier fails to deliver on social commitments made at tender stage?
Social commitments incorporated into the contract as performance conditions are enforceable obligations. Failure to meet them can trigger contractual remedies including damages, deductions from payment, or in serious cases termination. The key is that the commitment must be in the contract, not merely in the tender submission. Buyers should ensure that social award criteria are reflected in the contract terms, not left as aspirational statements.
Are social criteria in award compatible with best-value purchasing?
Yes. A well-designed social criterion is not in tension with value for money: it reflects the full economic and social cost of delivery. An employer who pays poverty wages may deliver a lower headline price but impose costs on the state through benefits claims and healthcare. Whole-life cost analysis supports the inclusion of social criteria where those linkages are genuine.
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Related terms
Social Value in Procurement
Social value in procurement refers to the additional economic, social, and environmental benefits that a contracting authority seeks to generate through its purchasing decisions, beyond the direct delivery of the contracted goods or services, encompassing employment, skills, community wellbeing, and environmental outcomes linked to the subject matter of the contract.
ViewCommunity Benefit Clause
A community benefit clause is a contractual term inserted in a public contract that requires the contractor to deliver specified social, economic, or environmental outcomes for the local community during contract performance, such as creating employment opportunities, providing training, or engaging local supply chains, enforceable alongside the core commercial obligations.
ViewReserved Contract for Social Enterprises
A reserved contract for social enterprises is a public procurement procedure in which the contracting authority restricts participation to organisations whose primary aim is the social and professional integration of disabled or disadvantaged workers, as authorised by Article 20 of Directive 2014/24/EU and equivalent provisions in EU utilities and concessions directives.
ViewSocial Enterprise
A social enterprise is a business that trades commercially to achieve a defined social, environmental, or community mission, reinvesting the majority of its profits to further that mission rather than distributing them to private shareholders, and which may qualify for reserved contracts or preferential procurement treatment under European and UK public procurement frameworks.
ViewVoluntary Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE)
The Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector is a UK-specific classification covering charities, voluntary organisations, community groups, and social enterprises that operate with a social mission, and which contracting authorities are encouraged to engage as suppliers and commissioning partners under the UK Procurement Act 2023 and associated social value policy.
View