Amey has welcomed the Government’s increased emphasis on social value in public procurement, arguing that infrastructure investment should be used to create jobs, develop skills and generate wider economic benefits in the communities where projects are delivered.
The infrastructure services business said changes to the procurement landscape provide an opportunity for government, industry, local authorities and communities to work more closely to ensure major public contracts deliver measurable benefits beyond their core scope.
The updated approach places greater emphasis on aligning procurement with wider government priorities, including economic growth, removing barriers to employment, improving community wellbeing and demonstrating tangible social outcomes through contract delivery.
For the infrastructure sector, where government and publicly funded organisations procure billions of pounds of work across rail, highways and other essential services, the approach could place greater importance on bidders demonstrating how their programmes will support employment, skills and local supply chains alongside cost and technical delivery.
Amey, which delivers infrastructure and public services across the UK, said it is already incorporating these objectives across its contracts through investment in local skills, SMEs, social enterprises and employment programmes.
The company reported delivering £248 million of social value during 2025, up from £211 million in the previous year.
Andy Milner, Chief Executive Officer at Amey, said: “We welcome the Government’s focus on ensuring public procurement delivers tangible economic and community benefits. Public investment should do more than deliver services. It should create local jobs, develop skills and open opportunities for those who need them most.
“At Amey, we work with local authorities, customers, supply chain partners and community organisations to create pathways into employment for young people, care leavers, veterans and underrepresented groups. In 2025, we created £248m worth of social value, up from £211m the previous year, and will continue to invest in the skills, supply chain partnerships and community programmes that help local economies grow.
“By aligning investment with local needs and clear social outcomes, we can maximise the impact of public spending and ensure communities across the UK benefit from economic growth and opportunity.”
Amey’s programmes include apprenticeships, graduate and early-career opportunities, work experience, mentoring, employability initiatives and wider skills development.
Its Journey to Work strategy specifically targets people facing greater barriers to employment, including veterans and service leavers, care leavers, the long-term unemployed and current or former offenders, with the aim of creating routes into sustainable employment.
The company also works with SMEs, local businesses, voluntary organisations, community interest companies and social enterprises through its supply chain.
The direction of government procurement policy is particularly relevant to infrastructure contractors and suppliers as clients increasingly seek to demonstrate that major investment programmes leave a wider economic legacy.
For the rail supply chain, that could mean social value becoming an increasingly important part of demonstrating overall value for money, particularly as major programmes compete for constrained public investment.
Alongside delivering infrastructure safely, efficiently and affordably, contractors are increasingly expected to demonstrate how spending supports domestic capability, develops scarce skills, opens opportunities to smaller suppliers and creates employment within the communities affected by major projects.
Amey said closer alignment between public investment, local needs and measurable social outcomes could help ensure infrastructure spending contributes to longer-term economic resilience as well as delivering the assets and services for which contracts were originally commissioned.
