see that this demanded new ways of thinking and doing and new ways of working together. So we set up Mend to help the public sector manage procurement more responsibly, and help the private sector change the way it delivers. Mend specialise in responsible procurement, planning and place-making. We provide advice and practical support to enable communities, businesses and organisations build social value and deliver better projects together.
This is a fast moving agenda but it is also very complex and sometimes quite emotive (especially around human rights, ethical sourcing and workforce welfare issues). So what all of our work involves is getting people to think differently about what they are trying to do, communicate better about why they are doing it and the best way to make that change. We build relationships across networks, sectors, places and communities to get things done.
Why should rail take it seriously? Social Value is an agenda that is not going away. There is a growing sophistication on the part of clients and commissioners who understand the need to address it and the role it plays in demonstrating value for money to tax payers and stakeholders.
It is no longer just about on-time and on-budget – things have to be done responsibly too. This poses extra challenges and pressures on the rail industry to deliver on objectives that were hitherto ‘added-value’. Now they are core to value. Despite it being a relatively new aspect of rail sector procurement, research I undertook with UCL into how CSR, responsible procurement and social sustainability were treated in mega urban transport projects including the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and the Jubilee line extension, showed that issues around social impact and wider social benefits were being grappled with back in the late 1990’s.
The research showed how the definition of CSR had changed as a greater appreciation of the complexity of understanding projects beyond satisfying political, economic and engineering requirements had also changed. It revealed how quickly projects are judged and affected by stakeholder
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