Community Impact Assessment Form
For a summary of this Community Impact Assessment, click here
Title of Community Impact Assessment (CIA): Review of the Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy 2003 (amended 2011)
Directorate: Environment and Community Safety
Date of assessment: 27/5/14
Names and roles of people carrying out the community impact assessment. (Please identify Lead Officer): Clare Ibbeson Urban Renewal
Team Manager, John Wooderson Head of Urban Renewal
Section A – What are you impact assessing?
(Indicate with an “x” which applies):A decision to review or change a service
A strategy
A policy or procedure
A function, service or project
X
Are you impact assessing something that is?:New
Existing
Being reviewed
Being reviewed as a result of budget constraints
X
1
Describe the area you are impact assessing and, where appropriate, the changes you are proposing?
The Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy (PSHAP) sets out the range of assistance that Salford City Council will make available for private
sector home owners, together with the eligibility criteria and the conditions that will be applied to each form of assistance. The assistance can be
directly or indirectly funded and may be in the form of a loan which may be secured against the property
The Policy makes provision for a number of types of themed assistance to support the Council’s priorities, outlined as follows;
 Home Improvement Assistance
 Relocation Assistance
 Adaptations Assistance
 Block Improvement Assistance
 Affordable Warmth Assistance
 Empty Property Assistance
 Security Assistance
 Environmental Improvement Assistance
 Residential Leaseholders Discretionary Assistance
 Compulsory Purchase Order Assistance
And the Policy makes provision for the following financial products to be used to support the themed assistance projects;
 Repayment Loan
 Interest Only Loan
 Interest Roll-up Loan
 Equity Participation Loan
 Secured Interest Free Loan
 Direct Financial Assistance
Earlier versions of the policy included a number of terms and conditions, which together with terms and conditions set out in the main chapter, plus
themes of assistance, were contradictory, the updated version aims to remove any confusion.
Each theme of assistance is now organised in the same way with the following headings and reference to primary legislation where relevant – where
specific terms or conditions override general terms and conditions of the Financial Products, this is clearly stated.
 Purpose
 Who Administers this Assistance
 Eligibility
 Type of Works
 Types of Financial Product which apply
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


Fees and Other Costs
Conditions
Policy Limits
Specific changes to policy include as follows;
Home Improvement Assistance
 Priority Points Policy has now become an annex to PSHAP and has been changed as follows;
 remove allocation of 30 points for ‘anyone under 60’
 review latest benefits conditions
 remove length of time on waiting list
 Maximum age of child currently considered for ‘priority points’ = 10
o Change to
(a) Dependent child under 5
(b) Any dependent living in the property as their main residence with a recognised medical condition
 Policy Limit increased to £12,000 excluding VAT, solicitors costs and other fees (solicitor costs and VAT can vary depending on client/contractor
circumstances)
 Policy limit can be exceeded without exception to policy if client is highest priority and it is required to address a Category 1 Hazard (HHSRS)
(with approval)
 Clients are limited to the maximum policy limit within an 3 year period to limit repeat applications exceeding the policy limit
Relocation Assistance
 The Homeswap option is now removed.
 The option of a temporary decant is now removed.
 Under the old policy, if an assisted person chose to repay the loan within the first five years then the applicant would only be required to repay the
original amount of the loan. This has been removed.
Adaptation Assistance
 Now adopts a discretionary condition that ‘if the property is sold, assigned or transferred within 10 years of the grant being certified it becomes
repayable’.
 Now adopting DFA without charge finance type for recycling lifts
Block Improvement Assistance
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


Defined specific works have been changed to “external elements of the building which will have the greatest positive impact on the perception of
the block and local area”
Currently provided free of charge to both landlords and owner occupiers but is now changed to assess contribution levels on a scheme by
scheme basis depending on funding route and strategic context
Schemes will only now proceed if there is a high enough take up to make the scheme economically viable.
Energy efficiency assistance
 Change of focus to support Green Deal / ECO / GMEAS and retains focus on fuel poverty
Empty property assistance
 Updated to reflect current HCA Empty Property Funding eligibility (not guided by this policy) but put in place to make provision for Council to
continue funding grants for Empty Properties if HCA funding ceases.
a. Conversion assistance
 Will be removed
HMO (Houses in Multiple Occupation) assistance
 Will be removed
Security assistance
 No change
Environmental improvements
 No change
Major Capital Works Charges for Residential Leaseholders
 Earlier versions simply made provision for discretionary loans, now updated to provide clear eligibility and terms and conditions
Compulsory Purchase Order discretionary compensation
 There is a statutory provision for compensation available, the value of which can be disputed by the claimant up to 6 years after the intention to
‘vest’ is known. If dispute is not lodged, SCC proposes to extend the availability of compensation for a further 4 years.
Financial Products
 Any application for assistance will only be approved where the Council is satisfied that the carrying out of the eligible works is the most
4


satisfactory course of action
When assessing the form and extent of assistance to be offered the Council will take into account the financial circumstances of all adults living
within the property.
Changes to financial products
 Currently provide and are retaining Repayment Loan / Equity Participation Loan / Secured Interest Free Loan – as a sequential test
 Propose to also introduce Interest Only Loan / Interest Roll-up Loan as next preference before Equity Loan in sequential test
 Adding a maximum value to loan, the loan should not be for more than 70% of the available equity (with the exception of Leaseholder and
Relocation Loans)
 Change to the minimum amount to be repaid on an Equity Participation Loan. The minimum repayment will now be the amount originally
advanced
Section B – Is a Community Impact Assessment required (Screening)?
Consider what you are impact assessing and mark “x” for all the statement(s) below which apply
Service or policy that people use or which apply to people (this could include staff)
Discretion is exercised or there is potential for people to experience different outcomes. For example, planning
applications and whether applications are approved or not
Concerns at local, regional or national level of discrimination/inequalities
Major change, such as closure, reduction, removal or transfer
Community, regeneration and planning strategies, organisational or directorate partnership strategies/plans
Employment policy – where discretion is not exercised
Employment policy – where discretion is exercised. For example, recruitment or disciplinary process
X
X
If none of the areas above apply to your proposals, you will not be required to undertake a full CIA. Please summarise below why a full CIA is not
required and send this form to your directorate equality link officer. If you have identified one or more of the above areas, you should conduct a full
CIA and complete this form.
n/a
5
Equality Areas
Indicate with an “x” which equality areas are likely to be affected, positively or negatively, by the proposals
Age
X
Religion and/or belief
Disability
X
Sexual Identity
Gender (including pregnancy and maternity and
marriage and civil partnership)
People on a low income (socio-economic inequality)
Gender reassignment
Other (please state below) (For example carers, ex
offenders, refugees and asylum seekers, gypsies and
travellers)
X
Race
If any of the equality areas above have been identified as being likely to be affected by the proposals, you will be required to undertake a CIA. You
will need only to consider those areas which you have indicated are likely to be affected by the proposals
6
Section C – Monitoring information
C1 Do you currently monitor by the
following protected characteristics or
equality areas?
Age
Yes (Y) or
No (N)
Disability
Y
Gender (including pregnancy and maternity
and marriage and civil partnership)
N
Gender Reassignment
N
Race
N
Religion and/or belief
N
Sexual Identity
N
People on a low income
(socio-economic inequality)
Y
If no, please explain why and / or detail in the action plan at Section E how you will
prioritise the gathering of this equality monitoring data.
Y
Equality monitoring statistics are not collected for all types of assistance but some
types of assistance will be fully monitored where they are delivered as a service,
such as Home Improvement Assistance, Security Assistance, Affordable Warmth
Assistance and Adaptations Assistance.
Equality monitoring statistics are not collected for all types of assistance but some
types of assistance will be fully monitored where they are delivered as a service,
such as Home Improvement Assistance, Security Assistance, Affordable Warmth
Assistance and Adaptations Assistance.
Equality monitoring statistics are not collected for all types of assistance but some
types of assistance will be fully monitored where they are delivered as a service,
such as Home Improvement Assistance, Security Assistance, Affordable Warmth
Assistance and Adaptations Assistance.
Equality monitoring statistics are not collected for all types of assistance but some
types of assistance will be fully monitored where they are delivered as a service,
such as Home Improvement Assistance, Security Assistance, Affordable Warmth
Assistance and Adaptations Assistance.
Equality monitoring statistics are not collected for all types of assistance but some
types of assistance will be fully monitored where they are delivered as a service,
such as Home Improvement Assistance, Security Assistance, Affordable Warmth
Assistance and Adaptations Assistance.
Other (please state) (For example carers,
ex offenders, refugees and asylum
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seekers, gypsies and travellers)
Section C (continued) – Consultation
C2 Are you intending to carry out consultation on your proposals?
Yes
If “no”, please explain your reason(s) why
If “yes”, please give details of your consultation exercise and results below
The draft amended policy and a draft community impact assessment have been made available to the public via the internet for 12 weeks.
The staff teams who support the various themes of assistance have been sent the draft amended policy with a series of questions and have been
consulted throughout the review.
The relevant changes to the draft amended policy have been directly consulted on at the Home Improvement Agency Advisory Group and have been
accepted by a group of wider professionals and customers of the service.
The relevant changes to the draft amended policy have been directly consulted on by the Regeneration Scrutiny Panel and have been accepted by
the Councillors present.
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Section C (continued) – Analysis
C3 What information has been analysed to
inform the content of this CIA? What were
the findings?
Information about financial products provided and the values and interest returned to analyse the
benefits of the Financial Products. Found that the current products needed to be updated as the
housing market had changed significantly since the policy was originally written.
Please include details of, for example,
service or employee monitoring information,
consultation findings, any national or local
research, customer feedback, inspection
reports, and any other information which will
inform your CIA.
National research into private sector assistance policies to assess good practice and to inform
changes to prioritisation for Home Improvement Assistance found that most policies had a time limit
within which no further assistance would be provided.
Please specify whether this was existing
information or was obtained specifically in
relation to this equality analysis and CIA
process
Consideration of the impact of statutory legislation as it impacts on the terms and conditions that apply
to discretionary Adaptations Assistance led to a decision being taken to include the discretionary
elements which allow a charge to be set for mandatory DFG.
Consultation with Street UK the loan provider and managers responsible for the various themes of
assistance found that the current products needed to be updated as the housing market had changed
significantly since the policy was originally written.
Consultation with staff on HIA assistance values and limits to agree the new increased Home
Improvement Assistance policy limit found that the current policy limit was agreed without
consideration of the impact of survey fees, legal charges etc and the remaining funding was not
sufficient.
Consultation with managers delivering Relocation Assistance to inform the removal of Homeswap and
temporary decant found that the current products needed to be updated as the housing market had
changed significantly since the policy was originally written.
Consultation with managers delivering various themes of assistance to agree other changes to policy
based on feedback about practice of the policy and assessment against the current market and
council strategy found that small changes to procedure should now be mirrored in policy, but no
significant negative changes were proposed.
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Section D – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a
differential impact relating to age
equality
Will people within certain age
ranges not be getting the outcome
they need?
Will people within certain age
ranges be disadvantaged as a
result of your proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it
be reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate,
reduce or mitigate negative
impacts, are your proposals
potentially discriminatory on the
grounds of age?
Yes (Y)
Will the proposals mean that
people within certain age ranges
will experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
Y
No (N)
Y
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
Home Improvement Assistance is aimed at older and vulnerable people. The current
prioritisation policy provides points to anyone under age 60 and this is now removed but
there is still opportunity for people under 60 to qualify because of vulnerability, including
illness and infirmity issues, or the seriousness of their housing condition.
Home Improvement Assistance prioritisation will take into account children but the age limit
has been changed from under 10 to under 5. However we have added the option to
consider the health needs of any dependent person who lives in the homes as their
permanent residence, so any child with a health need will still be considered.
Refining the process for prioritisation of Home Improvement Assistance will ensure that the
limited financial assistance available each year will be focussed on the core group of older
and vulnerable people for the Home Improvement Agency.
General changes to the layout of the policy and to remove duplication of terms and
conditions will make the policy more accessible by a wider customer group.
If a Home Improvement Assistance client is assessed as the highest priority and
assistance is required to address a Category 1 Hazard (HHSRS) then with appropriate
senior manager approval the policy limit can now be exceeded without exception to policy.
Are the proposals likely to impact
on community cohesion?
Is there potential to enhance
relationships between people who
share a protected characteristic
and those who do not?
Identify areas where there is
N
10
potential to foster good relations
Section D (continued) – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a
differential impact relating to
disability equality
Will people with a disability not be
getting the outcome they need?
Will people with a disability be
disadvantaged as a result of your
proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it
be reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate,
reduce or mitigate negative
impacts, are your proposals
potentially discriminatory on the
grounds of disability?
Yes (Y)
Y
Adaptations Assistance has adopted a discretionary procedure to set a charge against a
property where the grant sum exceeds £5000 then if the property is sold, assigned or
transferred within 10 years of the grant being certified it becomes repayable. However this
does not change the eligibility or access to grant in the first instance.
Will the proposals mean that
people with a disability will
experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
Y
Adaptations Assistance now makes provision for recycling equipment free at the point of
use for the customer.
Are the proposals likely to impact
on community cohesion?
Is there potential to enhance
relationships between people who
share a protected characteristic
and those who do not?
Identify areas where there is
potential to foster good relations
No (N)
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
General changes to the layout of the policy and to remove duplication of terms and
conditions will make the policy more accessible by a wider customer group.
N
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Section D (continued) – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a
differential impact relating to
gender equality (this includes
pregnancy and maternity and
marriage and civil partnership)
Will men, women or boys and girls
not be getting the outcome they
need?
Will men, women or boys and girls
be disadvantaged as a result of
your proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it
be reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate,
reduce or mitigate negative
impacts, are your proposals
potentially discriminatory on the
grounds of gender?
Will the proposals mean that men
or women, boys or girls will
experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
Are the proposals likely to impact
on community cohesion?
Is there potential to enhance
relationships between people who
share a protected characteristic
and those who do not?
Identify areas where there is
potential to foster good relations
Yes (Y)
No (N)
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
N
N
N
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Section D (continued) – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a differential
impact relating to equality for people
planning, undergoing or who have
undergone gender reassignment?
Will people planning, undergoing or who
have undergone gender reassignment not
be getting the outcome they need?
Will people planning, undergoing or who
have undergone gender reassignment be
disadvantaged as a result of your
proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it be
reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate, reduce or
mitigate negative impacts, are your
proposals potentially discriminatory on the
grounds of gender reassignment?
Yes (Y)
No (N)
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
N
N
Will the proposals mean that people
planning, undergoing or who have
undergone gender reassignment will
experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
Are the proposals likely to impact on
community cohesion?
Is there potential to enhance relationships
between people who share a protected
characteristic and those who do not?
Identify areas where there is potential to
foster good relations
N
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Section D (continued) – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a
differential impact relating to race
equality
Will certain racial groups not be
getting the outcome they need?
Will certain racial groups be
disadvantaged as a result of your
proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it
be reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate,
reduce or mitigate negative
impacts, are your proposals
potentially discriminatory on the
grounds of race?
Yes (Y)
No (N)
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
N
Will the proposals mean that
people within certain racial groups
will experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
N
Are the proposals likely to impact
on community cohesion?
Is there potential to enhance
relationships between people who
share a protected characteristic
and those who do not?
Identify areas where there is
potential to foster good relations
N
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Section D (continued) – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a
differential impact relating to
religion or belief equality
Will people of certain religions or
who have particular beliefs not be
getting the outcome they need?
Will people of certain religions or
who have particular beliefs be
disadvantaged as a result of your
proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it
be reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate,
reduce or mitigate negative
impacts, are your proposals
potentially discriminatory on the
grounds of religion or belief?
Will the proposals mean that
people of certain religions or who
have particular beliefs will
experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
Are the proposals likely to impact
on community cohesion?
Is there potential to enhance
relationships between people who
share a protected characteristic
and those who do not?
Identify areas where there is
potential to foster good relations
Yes (Y)
No (N)
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
N
N
N
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Section D (continued) – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a
differential impact relating to
sexual identity equality
Will gay, lesbian and/or bi-sexual
people not be getting the outcome
they need?
Will gay, lesbian and/or bi-sexual
people be disadvantaged as a
result of your proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it
be reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate,
reduce or mitigate negative
impacts, are your proposals
potentially discriminatory on the
grounds of sexual identity?
Will the proposals mean that gay,
lesbian and/or bi-sexual people will
experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
Are the proposals likely to impact
on community cohesion?
Is there potential to enhance
relationships between people who
share a protected characteristic
and those who do not?
Identify areas where there is
potential to foster good relations
Yes (Y)
No (N)
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
N
N
N
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Section D (continued) – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a
differential impact on socio
economic equality (people on a
low income)?
Will people on a low income not be
getting the outcome they need?
Will people on a low income be
disadvantaged as a result of your
proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it
be reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate,
reduce or mitigate negative
impacts, are your proposals
potentially discriminatory on the
grounds of socio economic
inequality?
Yes (Y)
Y
No (N)
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
Clients will now be limited to the maximum policy limit for Home Improvement Assistance
within an 3 year period, to limit repeat applications exceeding the policy limit. Only people
on a low income are eligible for this type of assistance so the introduction of this condition
will not disproportionately affect people on a low income and where the condition creates
hardship, the Assistant Mayor for Housing and Environment maintains the discretion to
make exceptions to the policy.
The Homeswap option is now removed from Relocation Assistance. This gave an extra
option to people whose homes were being acquired by the council for the council to
identify their new property. However the housing market has changed significantly since
the policy was originally written and the council is not managing area based regeneration
projects on the same large scale, therefore the need to identify properties for people has
reduced. The council retains Relocation Assistance which allows people to identify their
own property. In both cases a charge would be set on the property therefore there should
be limited impact on people with a low income.
The option of a temporary decant is now removed. This gave an extra option to people
whose homes were being acquired by the council for the council to find them a temporary
property until their new property was ready. However the housing market has changed
significantly since the policy was originally written and the council is not managing area
based regeneration projects on the same large scale, therefore the need to identify
temporary properties for people has reduced. The council retains Relocation Assistance
which allows people to identify their own property and these should be readily available in
the present housing market. There should therefore be limited impact on people with a low
income.
There is a change to the minimum amount to be repaid on an Equity Participation Loan.
The minimum repayment will now be the amount originally advanced. The housing market
17
is currently stable so the fluctuations of housing value which would impact on this are
minimal. There could therefore be a moderate impact on people with a low income who sell
their property for less than the purchase price. Where the condition creates hardship, the
Assistant Mayor for Housing and Environment maintains the discretion make exceptions to
the policy.
Under the old policy, if an assisted person chose to repay a Relocation Assistance loan
within the first five years then the applicant would only be required to repay the original
amount of the loan. This has been removed. In this case the applicant now will either pay,
the original amount of the loan, or they will pay a value based on the increased value of
their property. If they are paying back more then they will also be receiving an increased
revenue from the sale of the property which they will keep themselves. There should
therefore be limited impact on people with a low income.
Block Improvement Assistance is currently provided free of charge to both landlords and
owner occupiers but is now changed to assess contribution levels on a scheme by scheme
basis depending on funding route and strategic context. It is intended that this will reduce
the amount of work that is provided free at the point of access to those home owners who
are capable of funding the work themselves. There should therefore be limited impact on
people with a low income.
Any application for a Financial product will only be approved where the Council is satisfied
that the carrying out of the eligible works is the most satisfactory course of action. Where
the council deems it is not the most satisfactory the council will provide advice and in some
cases will be able to provide alternative services which are more appropriate. E.g. where
Home Improvement Assistance is not the most satisfactory course of action because a
home needs repairs well in excess of the policy limit, the housing options support and
advice service will be offered.
When assessing the form and extent of assistance to be offered the Council will take into
account the financial circumstances of all adults living within the property. Under current
policy other owners of the property (siblings, ex-spouses) are not always considered in the
financial assessment. Under the new policy they will be and this may mean an increased
number of people liable for repayments. However an increased number of repayments
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should mean a reduced value of payment per person.
The new policy introduces a maximum value to the loan, the loan should now not be for
more than 70% of the available equity (with the exception of Leaseholder and Relocation
Loans). This change is intended to protect the customers equity and to protect the
council’s investment. This applies, except in cases where the applicant has been
determined the highest priority, as determined by the Home Improvement Agency Priority
Assessment and there is a need to address a Category 1 Hazard in the property. In cases
of hardship the policy states the Council may consider loans which exceed this limit.
Y
This policy introduces Interest Only Loans and Interest Roll-up Loans as the next
preference in the sequential test before Equity Participation Loans. This introduces
financial products on top of the repayment loan which bear interest. However unlike
repayment loans which require repayment of interest and capital each month, these new
loan products allow for repayment of only interest or for the entire repayment to be set as a
charge only repayable on transfer of the property. While the value of the charge is
increasing by the rate of interest, this should provide for a reduced payment option for
some clients.
Will the proposals mean that
people on a low income will
experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
Are the proposals likely to impact
on community cohesion?
Is there potential to enhance
relationships between people who
share a protected characteristic
and those who do not?
Identify areas where there is
potential to foster good relations
N
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Section D (continued) – Potential impacts and how these will be addressed
Could your proposals have a
differential impact relating to any
other equality groups, for
example, carers, ex offenders,
refugees and asylum seekers,
gypsies and travellers)?
Will people within any other groups
not be getting the outcome they
need?
Will people within any other groups
be disadvantaged as a result of
your proposals?
If the impact is negative, how will it
be reduced or eliminated?
If you are unable to eliminate,
reduce or mitigate negative
impacts, are your proposals
potentially discriminatory for people
within any other groups?
Will the proposals mean that
people within any other groups will
experience positive outcomes?
Highlight any positive impacts
Are the proposals likely to impact
on community cohesion
Is there potential to enhance
relationships between people who
share a protected characteristic
and those who do not?
identify areas where there is
potential to foster good relations
Yes (Y)
No (N)
Explain impact(s) and what evidence or data exists to support your analysis?
N
N
N
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Section E – Action Plan and review
Detail in the plan below, actions that you have identified in your CIA, which will eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and/or foster
good relations.
If you are unable to eliminate or reduce negative impact on any of the equality areas, you should explain why
Impact (positive or
negative) identified
Proposed action
Person(s)
responsible
The eligibility criteria of
some types of assistance
have been reduced – to
ensure resources are better
targeted at those most in
need
To monitor access to the
scheme by all groups to
ensure the proposed effect
Service
Managers
Terms and conditions to
access funding have been
changed – to protect the
council’s investment and
prevent misuse of
resources, i.e.
 Limit to service every 3
years
 70% LTV
 Minimum repayment
 Interest on loans
 Assess financial
circumstances of all adults
 Reduce access of landlords
 Grant repayment on a
charge
To monitor the effect of the
changes on the most
vulnerable
Loans
Administrator
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Where will action be
monitored? (e.g.,
Directorate Business
Plan, Service Plan,
Equality Action Plan)
Team Business Plan
Target date
Required outcome
Mar 2017
Resources are better
targeted at those most
in need
Loans Administrator
contract meetings
Mar 2017
Council’s investment is
protected while most
vulnerable still receive
service.
Could making the changes in any of the above areas have a negative effect on other groups? Explain why and what you will do about this.
Not known
Review
Your CIA should be reviewed at least every three years, less if it has a significant impact on people.
Please enter the date your CIA will be reviewed - June 2017.
You should review progress on your CIA action plan annually.
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Section F – Summary of your CIA
As your CIA will be published on the council’s website and accessible to the general public, a summary of your CIA is required. Please provide a
summary of your CIA in the box below.
Summary of Community Impact Assessment
Brief summary of proposal or what you are impact assessing
The Private Sector Housing Assistance Policy (PSHAP) sets out the range of assistance that Salford City Council will make available for private
sector home owners, together with the eligibility criteria and the conditions that will be applied to each form of assistance. The assistance can be
directly or indirectly funded and may be in the form of a loan which may be secured against the property.
The policy has been reviewed in light of the changing housing and economic markets and to support practical day-to-day delivery.
How did you approach the CIA and what did you find?
We met with managers, staff, multi-agency groups and published information for customers online to gather information about the changes
required and then to review the proposed changes.
It was found that housing and economic markets had changed so significantly since the 2011 review of the policy that changes were required to
ensure that the council’s investment is being protected, this led to proposals to charge interest on the Council’s loan products and to change the
terms and conditions to clarify the circumstances under which a loan may be made.
It was also reported by service managers that changes were needed to policy to ensure that services’ eligibility criteria were properly focussed on
those most in need of service, and to remove some policy offers which were no longer appropriate.
What are the main areas requiring further attention?
The Policy has now been updated to reflect changes to eligibility criteria, loan terms and conditions and to remove some of the previous policy
offer.
Summary of recommendations for improvement
It is proposed to monitor the effect of changes to the eligibility criteria of some types of assistance, to ensure access to the scheme by groups most
in need is protected. And it is proposed to evaluate changes to the terms and conditions of funding, to monitor the effect of the changes on the
most vulnerable.
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Section G – Next Steps
Quality Assurance
When you have completed your CIA, you should send it to your directorate Equality Link Officer who will arrange for it to be quality assured. Your CIA
will be returned to you if further work is required. It is important that your CIA is robust and of good quality as it may be challenged
“Sign off” within your directorate
Your directorate Equality Link Officer will then arrange for your CIA to be “signed off” within your directorate (see below). Your directorate Equality
Lead Officer or other senior manager within your directorate should “sign off” your CIA (below).
Name
Signature
Date
Senior Manager
Lead CIA Officer
Publishing
When your CIA has been signed off within your directorate, your directorate Equality Link Officer will send it to Elaine Barber in the Equalities and
Cohesion Team for publishing on the council’s website.
Monitoring
Your directorate Equality Link Officer will also send your CIA to your directorate Performance Officer where the actions identified within your CIA will
be entered into Covalent, the council’s performance management monitoring software so that progress can be monitored as appropriate.
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