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Developing a Poverty Impact Assessment Tool for use by the Housing Association sector

Deadline:	2 p.m. on Friday 15 February 2008
JRF Committee:	Practice and research
Timescale:	Initial development work by July 2008, and for the monitoring and the remaining outputs by April 2009.
Budget:	We anticipate that costs will be within the range £25,000
Key contacts:	Alison Jarvis, Principal Research Manager, 01904 615948, alison.jarvis@jrf.org.uk Jo Allsop, Research Administrator, 01904 615948, jo.allsop@jrf.org.uk

Supporting documents:

• What makes a good proposal?
• Application guidelines

Background

The Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) is a medium-sized housing association providing housing, community, and care services to a mixed income customer base. Whilst activity is centred on New Earswick, the garden village on the outskirts of York that was established by Joseph Rowntree in 1904, this is not an exclusive focus for operational activity. JRHT also has housing stock throughout North Yorkshire and Humberside, and the geographical base for care provision extends to Leeds and Hartlepool. Fuller details are available via its own website http://www.jrht.org.uk and that of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation http://www.jrf.org.uk/housingandcare.

JRHT is currently developing an anti-poverty strategy for the organisation, drawing upon good practice elsewhere in the sector. This recognises that some groups are particularly exposed to poverty – people from certain minority ethnic groups; families with children, especially lone parents; older people; low-paid workers and households dependent on benefits; long-term unemployed people; disabled people and their carers. It will include aspects specific to people who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing poverty – measures intended to address financial exclusion, for example.

However, one aspect that does not appear to be evident in work undertaken by our peers is a tool for assessing the impact that other non-poverty-focussed policy and practice changes across a social landlord organisation may have on people who are experiencing or at risk of experiencing poverty.

Such tools are used by a number of organisations and agencies operating in the developing world, and are also used by some national governments as part of their social inclusion commitments (for example, Eire's approach is outlined at http://www.socialinclusion.ie/pia.html). But within the UK, although there are tools concerned with diversity or aspects of diversity (e.g. race equality), there appears to be nothing within the housing association sector that deals specifically with poverty (and the risk of it).

Developing such a 'poverty-proofing' tool for use by JRHT, and possibly by the Housing Association sector more generally, is the object of this brief.

The Brief

The purposes of the project are three-fold:

• To lead the development of a 'poverty impact assessment' toolkit for use by the JRHT.
• To monitor its implementation over a period of 6-9 months.
• If appropriate, to produce a template for wider use.

Outputs

Accordingly, we are seeking the following outputs:

• A toolkit (and designed and delivered associated training) that will be useable by JRHT in assessing the impact of its wider policies and processes on people in, or at risk of, poverty.
• A written assessment of the usefulness of such an approach in practice, based on monitoring its implementation over a period of 6-9 months.
• A replicable template (for both toolkit and training) that could be used by others in the sector.

Consultant Requirements

We are seeking to commission consultants who can bring together in-depth knowledge and practical experience of the following:

• Addressing issues of poverty (and the risk of it)
• Developing or using Impact Assessment Tools
• Understanding the policies/practices of Registered Social Landlords

We recognise that this may require a partnership between individual(s)/ organisation(s) and have reflected this in our budgetary provision.

Costs and Timescale

We anticipate that costs will be within the range £25,000.

We are looking for the initial development work to be completed, and the first output delivered, by July 2008; and for the monitoring to be completed and the remaining outputs delivered by April 2009.

Process Issues

Please set down succinctly (maximum 2000 words, including appendices) what your approach to this task would be (given the constraints of time and budget), indicating the relevance of your knowledge and experience.

If you feel you could only deliver on some of the required expertise, please acknowledge this explicitly. It may be possible for us to identify potential partners from other submissions received.

Before submitting your proposal, please read the How to apply for funding section of our website, together with the Application guidelines containing the necessary forms for completing your application.

Please email a Word version of your proposal to jo.allsop@jrf.org.uk. Submissions should be made by 2 p.m. on Friday 15 February 2008. Unfortunately, late submissions cannot be accepted.

Proposals will be short-listed by an internal panel, and selection between the short-list will also involve external expertise. We will let people know the outcome by 5 March 2008.

Key Contacts

For queries about the project, please contact:

Alison Jarvis
Principal Research Manager
01904 615948
alison.jarvis@jrf.org.uk

For queries about the application process, please contact:

Jo Allsop
Research Administrator
01904 615948
jo.allsop@jrf.org.uk

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