Companies bidding for central government contracts will be scored twice as heavily on the local benefits they deliver, with the social value weighting rising from 10% to 20% for contracts worth £5 million or more, according to the Cabinet Office. Bidders will be able to earn extra credit for creating local jobs paying above the legal minimum, for treating workers properly, and for offering training such as 45 days of work experience. Social value has been a formal element of central government procurement scoring since 2021, when a minimum 10% weighting was introduced under the Social Value Model. The framework sits alongside the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force in February 2025 and governs how public contracts, including defence and security procurement, are competed and awarded. The tender notice for the Ministry of Defence’s Light Mobility Vehicle programme, published on 31 July, states that Social Value and the Land Industrial Strategy will together account for between 10% and 20% of the overall tender for a contract estimated at £2 billion.