Social value.

Our approach

We’re a small, mission-driven practice working with governments, universities, public bodies and purpose-led organisations. Most of our work already contributes to public good. This policy sets out how we go further.

We align our social value commitments to the UK government’s Social Value Model , organising our contribution across five themes.

1. Tackling economic inequality

We invest in skills, opportunity and local economic resilience.

• We share our methods openly. Our Playbook is published as a resource for public sector teams, partners and anyone trying to innovate with less.

• We run free workshops, talks and coaching sessions for university students, early-career practitioners and public sector teams without consultancy budgets.

• As we grow, we will create paid internships, apprenticeships and entry routes into policy and design work, with a focus on reaching people from underrepresented backgrounds.

• We work with small suppliers where we can and pay them promptly.

2. Fighting climate change

Sustainability runs through how we work. Full detail sits in our Carbon reduction plan. In summary:

• We are remote-first, reducing travel emissions by design.

• We use electric vehicles and rail for essential travel.

• We aim to align with the UK net zero target by 2050, with interim milestones.

• We support clients working on decarbonisation, net zero policy and sustainable development.

3. Equal opportunity

We’re committed to fair, inclusive and equitable practice.

• Our recruitment is open and merit-based, with a focus on removing barriers to entry.

• We pay fairly and transparently, and we do not use unpaid internships.

• We’re building towards a formal diversity and inclusion policy as we grow. In the meantime, we hold ourselves accountable through how we hire, who we hire, and how we support our team.

• We select clients and projects where our work contributes to fairer outcomes for the people affected.

4. Wellbeing

We care about the wellbeing of our team, our clients and the communities affected by our work.

• We design our work around sustainable hours and real flexibility, not performative work-life balance.

• We decline work that would require us to compromise on ethics, rigour, or care for people involved in research.

• Our research ethics are published and applied consistently. Participation is always voluntary, consent is informed, and participants can withdraw at any point.

5. Covid-19 recovery

Lighthouse supports recovery through the nature of the work we do: helping public services design and deliver better, research-led responses to complex social challenges, and building the capability to adapt as circumstances change.

Governance

This policy is owned by James Johnson, founding director of Lighthouse Policy Design Ltd. We review it annually, and we will report on our social value contributions as we grow.

Contact

For questions about this policy, email info@lighthousepolicydesign.co.uk .