This last 12 years, I’ve regularly read UK politicians and even academics talk of looking elsewhere for ideas on how to resolve one of England’s many worries, from knife murders, to protecting women, to hospital safety, to fire safety in tower blocks and to social housing demands. I’ve even written to the academics to then be told how they love Scotland and to be politely thanked for my help, too late of course.

Here we go again.

In the Guardian today:

Alan Milburn is guiding a metal loop along the serpentine wire of an electrical buzzer game as he explains the challenge of Britain’s youth jobs crisis. “We have got more than a million young people not in education, employment or training (Neet). Crisis is an over-used word – but this is a crisis.”

On a fact-finding trip to Dublin, the former UK cabinet minister is being shown around an Irish Rail training facility. He tells the apprentices who rigged up the game that, while things are bad in Britain, Ireland is on the right track.

“It’s about half the rate here, it’s fallen very rapidly. And we want to try to work out, what is that? Why? There’s something going on; maybe there’s something you guys have been doing that we haven’t?”

Over the past decade, Ireland has achieved the fastest reduction in Neet rates anywhere in the EU, from 14.3% in 2015 to 6.1% last year. That compares with a rise from 11.1% to 12.8% in the UK. Romania is the only EU country with a higher rate. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/aug/07/alan-milburn-dublin-quest-youth-jobs-ireland

Not in the Guardian:

Has the Scottish government done anything that England could learn from?

Yes, since 2014. The Scottish Government has long-standing policies and practices that closely parallel the UK central government approach of giving greater weight in public contract awards to suppliers’ additional social value outcomes focused on local growth, skills shortages, apprenticeships, and work placements. https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-annual-procurement-report-2024-2025/pages/4/

Scotland uses the framework of community benefits (and the broader Sustainable Procurement Duty) rather than the exact “Social Value Model” terminology from the recent Cabinet Office announcement (which initially applies to central UK government). Key elements include: https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-procurement-policy-handbook/pages/13/

• Under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, public bodies must consider including community benefit requirements for regulated contracts valued at £4 million or more. These are defined as contractual requirements relating to training and recruitment, availability of sub-contracting opportunities, or other measures intended to improve the economic, social, or environmental wellbeing of the area in a way additional to the main purpose of the contract. Their use is also encouraged (and commonly applied) below that threshold where relevant and proportionate. https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-procurement-policy-handbook/pages/13/
• Typical community benefits explicitly target outcomes such as:
  • Jobs and recruitment from priority/disadvantaged groups.
  • Apprenticeships (including for priority groups).
  • Work placements (for pupils, students, graduates, and priority groups).
  • Training, qualifications, and skills development.
  • Support for local suppliers, SMEs, third-sector organisations, and supply-chain opportunities that aid local economic growth. https://www.gov.scot/publications/procurement-reform-scotland-act-2014-statutory-guidance/pages/8/
• These sit within the Sustainable Procurement Duty, which requires authorities to consider how procurement can improve economic, social, and environmental wellbeing (with a particular focus on reducing inequality) before carrying out regulated procurements. Procurement is also expected to support Scotland’s National Performance Framework outcomes, including those related to employment, skills, places, and communities. https://www.gov.scot/publications/procurement-reform-scotland-act-2014-statutory-guidance/pages/3/
• In practice, Scottish Government and wider public-sector contracts regularly embed and deliver these outcomes. Recent reporting shows hundreds of jobs, apprenticeships, work placements, and qualifications generated through community benefits clauses. Updated guidance (including interim guidance published in 2025) continues to emphasise employment, skills, and training outcomes, links to Fair Work First, equality, and opportunities for SMEs/social enterprises/third sector, with practical tools, example clauses, and KPIs. https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-government-annual-procurement-report-2024-2025/pages/4/

Unlike the UK central government Social Value Model (which has mandated a minimum weighting, e.g., around 10% in related guidance), Scotland does not impose a fixed minimum percentage weighting for social/community benefits in evaluation. Instead, authorities are expected to consider and include them proportionately as part of value-for-money and award criteria, and they can form part of quality/evaluation scoring. Community benefits can be mandatory requirements or evaluated proposals from bidders. https://www.tussell.com/insights/what-is-social-value

In short, Scotland has operated a well-established equivalent system for years through legislation, statutory guidance, the Public Procurement Strategy, annual reporting, and tools that prioritise precisely the kinds of local growth, skills, apprenticeship, and work-placement outcomes

Examples of Aquilohobia:

English newspaper looks 10 000 miles south to report opioid crisis in Australia but fails to notice a solution launched THIRTEEN years ago just 400 miles to the north

Sorting child poverty the Scottish way – the Archbishop, the Bishop, the thinktank Chief Exec, the editor and Gordon Brown all avoid looking north