Social Value, Localism and Climate Action

Speaker: Louise Townsend, Morgan Sindall

Louise has worked in the construction industry for twenty years and has led on Social Value for Morgan Sindall since 2012. She is an advocate for change in commissioning, procuring, monitoring and monetising social value to ensure resource is efficiently deployed to improve wellbeing in society.

She has previously engaged with national and regional governments in the design of Social Value Frameworks, LEPs in the commissioning of Social Value and was the industry representative for BS76005 (Valuing People in the Workplace) and the international equivalent. Through her intervention, the development of the LM3 economic impact measurement tool can now predict the local economic impact of supply chain activity, rather than reporting on a fait accompli.

Her knowledge and understanding of the way the construction industry operates allows her to identify opportunities to improve accountability, transparency and to level the playfield for all stakeholders. She believes that, only when the value of construction activities are recognised and accounted for, will public procurement in this area be able to harness the significant contribution that it makes to the wellbeing of society and the procurement of construction projects designed to benefit its stakeholders can take place.