An examination of the current government policy discourse on social value and the capturing of social impact leads immediately into the centre of the fast-moving and transforming public-sector reform agenda. The thinking around social value takes an individual to the heart of contracting, localism, the relationship between the public sector and businesses and communities, and outcomes-driven methodologies. In this article, the author examines the current debate on social value and asks what significance the social-value approach which runs through much of the government's public-service reform could have for adult learning.