New electronic tablets, donated through a Swindon Borough Council partnership, are set to help adults with learning difficulties and jobseekers across the town — demonstrating the Council’s growing commitment to social value and community wealth building.
The tablets were presented to the Council by social housing contractor Pilon, as part of a successful tender for bathroom refurbishments across Swindon’s housing stock.
The devices will be used by Enterprise Works, a Council-owned organisation providing work opportunities for adults with learning difficulties. Additional tablets will also be used by the Skills and Employment team to support residents looking to get into work.
As part of its mission to “Build a Better Swindon,” the Council now includes social value criteria in its procurement processes, evaluating tenders not just on price, performance, and quality — but also on how they improve the economic, social, and environmental wellbeing of local communities.
Councillor Jim Robbins, Leader of Swindon Borough Council, said:
“I am really passionate about social value and community wealth building as it can make a real difference to local areas.
Asking firms who win our competitive contracts to provide additional social value benefits is absolutely the right thing to do, and the tablets that are going to be used by Enterprise Works and our Skills and Employment team will make a real difference to the people they support.
There are a number of other social value projects in the pipeline which will bring positive benefits to local communities in Swindon, which is fantastic news for the Borough.”
This initiative is part of a wider effort by Swindon Borough Council to ensure that every pound spent through procurement also delivers long-term benefits for local people and organisations.
