It's here - the new Value For Money (VFM) standard has been published and Social Accounting is in.  Associations are now required to follow 'Social Accounting' principles.  The introductory passage of the new VFM standard says:

"The proposed standard has been set with the objective of ensuring providers' boards maintain, and are transparent about, a view in the round of the optimum sustainable performance of all their assets - including for example financial, social and environmental returns - in the context of meeting their organisation's purpose and objectives."

There it is - organisations will need to know their social and environmental returns of all their assets. If that not enough reason to look at this, all bodies bidding for work in the public sector will have to demonstrate the 'social value' of any service contract when Chris White M.P.'s  Private Members Bill reaches the statute book.

To help develop a methodology for establishing VFM, and how to apply the LEAN method to save associations money and social value, join a  BDA 'Value for Money review'  incorporating the social return on Investment (SROI) in housing and community services.

The Programme Will Provide:

Seven sessions for within your organisation facilitated by EPI International and BDA. In between sessions we will be available for advice and coaching as required; we will also supply the forms and paperwork needed as the programme is delivered. There will be many other reviews running at the same time and we also plan ‘crossover activity' to ensure groups learn from each other.

• Session 1: Establishing the scope of the project ~ This would be a ‘set up' session to get to know each other and decide how the cluster will work in practical terms.  How to work with the EPI software, which will be given free to participants to help.
• Session 2: Identifying stakeholders ~ With the subject chosen here, we will be deciding who and how to involve stakeholders.
• Session 3: Mapping inputs and outcomes ~ With the stakeholder engagement completed and the chosen process map we will convert  the work  into an ‘Impact Map'. This is where we start to identify and value the ‘input' costs and any ‘non monetised' inputs for each stakeholder.Your homework at this stage will be to use the EPI software to capture the processes and costs of what the process being evaluated actually is. This presents the opportunity to test these processes and to use the ‘Lean' process built into the software to run ‘group re-engineering' processes to improve the way your organisation does things. We will show you how to achieve this and EPI or BDA can provide the appropriate practical ‘on site' support by negotiation.
• Session 4: Evidencing and valuing outcomes ~ We predict you will be coming back to this session with some efficiency savings! This project may now be 'cost positive!' (earning more than it costs). With the revised input data collected, now we need to firm up our outcomes and develop outcome indicators (to prove that the outcome has occurred). We can then agree to start collecting outcomes data from these indicators.
• Session 5: Establishing the impact ~ This is where we estimate how much of any outcome would have happened anyway (deadweight) and what can be claimed (the Impact). We also need to deduct any impact on the outcome from other sources (Attribution).
• Session 6: Calculating the Social Dividend ~ We will now have all the information we need and we can agree how to start presenting the data and the all-important ratio between cost and impact. We also need to consider how long impacts will last, their projected future value, the net present value and the final ratio.
• Session 7: Reporting ~ Using the data and building the future. At this point members will be in a much stronger place to use this as a continuous improvement tool and to ensure a positive culture change into a new mentality about Value for Money. We would also agree how assurance to the Board would take place and the future strategy for taking this forward. We will also take stock of the other benefits that should have spun off this project.

Next Steps

Contact us on 0844 800 6887 to register your interest  or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and to receive more details in a proposal if you would be interested in joining one of our groups.