becomes more widespread, monetisation will improve and there will be scope for pooling good financial proxies.”


How was this calculated? Social Value UK, which is cited by the Suffolk report’s authors, says: “For some things, like a pint of milk, there is considerable agreement on and consist- ency in the price. For other things, such as a house, there is likely to be a wider spread of possible price. What the market does… is to bring together people whose valuations happen to coincide. This ‘coincidence’ is called ‘price discovery’.” The difference with discovering social return on investment is that there is no market because the ‘goods’ under discussion are not traded and there is no traditional process of ‘price discovery’ and financial proxies are used instead. “Just as two people may disagree on the value of a traded good (and so decide not to trade), different stakeholders will have different perceptions of the value they get from different things. By estimating this value through the use of financial proxies, and combining these valuations, we arrive at an estimate of the total social value created by an intervention.”


For any community doing this for the first


time, the process can help them explore and get a better grasp of the value they get from their non-financial institutions.


Local view


In some cases there are already accepted proxies for some social values – which some stakeholders might find reassuring. But because different areas have different populations with different needs, a deeper conversation needs to take place. In Suffolk loneliness and social isolation are seen as significant and growing problems – above the national average. These are key issues for the report and the unifying theme of the three library activities . The impact report cites The State of Suffolk (SoS) Report 2019 which says 130,141 people in the county sometimes, often or always feel lonely. It also says that there is a high risk of loneliness and social isolation increasing in the Suffolk population in the future. One of the big risk factors is being aged over 65. Now 1 in 5 people in Suffolk are aged 65 or over but over the next 20 years this is forecast to increase to one in three – greater than the prediction for England as a whole. Simi- larly mental health is an issue that widely affects populations in Suffolk with an estimated 105,000 affected by depression and anxiety and more than 6,000 with severe mental health problems. Bruce said: “We see a real link between people socialising through recreational activity in their community and improvements in their health and wellbeing. We see our services making


October-November 2019


health and reduced stress, as did family members of attendees.


Bruce Leeke, Chief Executive of Suffolk Libraries. Photo © EADT


life better every day and now we have conclusive proof that this is the case!”


Report details


According to the report the highest social impact per head comes from the Open Space group which provides a place of safety to a diverse range of attendees deal- ing with problems including mental and physical illness with some living with family or a partner and some on their own. All of these factors add complexity to calculating the value of the service. As does the fact that the report looks at the benefits to attendees, family members and also the NHS. Among other things attendees reported improved mental


Some of the valuation is based on broadly accepted values provided by Measuring the Social Impact of Community Investment: A guide to using the wellbeing valuation approach. Some of it is based on proxies found by the authors. For example, for family members getting “time and space to engage in activities for themselves” the proxy of a foreign holiday is suggested. Some may not agree with this equivalent or its price but the example is transparent and because SROI measurement is new and often requires exploration of values there are checks and balances built into the process such as ‘deadweight’ which accounts for how much of the outcome would have happened anyway if the activity wasn’t available and ‘attribution’ – an assessment of the con- tribution of other organisations or people which should prevent any single input having a large impact on the price.


Conclusions


The report’s conclusions are that Suffolk Libraries is successfully responding to the social issues of loneliness and isolation and now has insight into the social value it is creating. The authors say: “With this information, the organisation is in a strong position to make strategic and operational decisions that could help them create even more positive change in these communities” and they recommended that Suffolk Libraries continue impact measurement to gain deeper understand- ing of their social value. IP


INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 37


Picture courtesy of Suffolk Libraries.


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