Rotherham Council wins ‘prestigious’ award for public sector leadership

Social Value Awards, according to their website, “are the most widely recognised and prestigious prizes to reward organisations and individuals for doing good in their communities.”

This week, 11 category winners were announced – and RMBC was one of them.

The jury picked Rotherham Council to win the “Public Sector Leadership” award while Salford City Council was “Highly Commended”. The third nominee was Waltham Forest.

Leader of Rotherham Council, Cllr Chris Read, told the Local Democracy Service: “We are extremely proud to be recognised for our work to drive forward social value in Rotherham at the Social Value Awards this week.

“Our Social Value policy aims to ensure the local economy benefits more from how the Council buys goods and services, through job creation, increased wages and skills – keeping the Rotherham pound in Rotherham.

“Over the last three years, we have doubled the amount the Council spends in the local economy and secured Real Living Wage accreditation, which saw some of the lowest paid workers in Rotherham receive a 10.1% increase in pay this year in the face of the spiralling cost of living.

“We continue to work with public sector and private sector partners in the borough to encourage more organisations to join us in committing to social value, delivering more benefits to our communities.”