The Community Needs Index (CNI) was first developed in 2018 through a partnership between OCSI and Local Trust. Since then, it has been widely used by policymakers, analysts, funders and third sector organisations to better understand the social infrastructure and community capacity of neighbourhoods across the UK.
Over time the work has expanded significantly from the original index for England to related measures across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as further research into how this intersects with deprivation and identifying doubly disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
This page brings together the key research, data and resources related to the Community Needs Index in one place and provides an overview of how the work has developed, how it has been used in policy and practice, and what comes next.
For regular updates on the CNI, join our Community Needs Index Mailing List.
The Community Needs Index for England, Wales and Scotland are available to explore in Local Insight.
As part of the Big Local Programme, Local Trust had noticed some patterns and shared characteristics of many of the communities they were working with. These neighbourhoods were often located on the periphery of towns and cities, and residents frequently highlighted similar challenges:
At the same time, an active and engaged community was seen as a key factor to help affect meaningful change and tackle deprivation.
The CNI attempts to measure some of these social capital, social connectedness and social infrastructure challenges in a quantitative way.
The overall CNI combines indicators across three key domains:
The first iteration of the Community Needs Index was produced at ward level.
In 2023, the index was updated to:
Developing the Community Needs Index formed part of a larger project with Local Trust to develop a quantitative measure of ‘left-behind’ neighbourhoods.
These were neighbourhoods that suffered the dual disadvantage of:
The resulting report ‘Left behind? Understanding communities on the edge’ demonstrated that deprived areas lacking social infrastructure tend to experience worse outcomes than other similarly deprived areas.
We identified the neighbourhoods that ranked in the worst 10% on both the Community Needs Index and Index of Multiple Deprivation.
The analysis identified 225 ‘left-behind’ wards in England with a combined population of 2,193,000 people – almost 4% of people in England. The research shows concentrations of left-behind neighbourhoods in housing estates outlying big towns and cities, such as Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Birmingham, Middlesbrough, Hull and Stoke, as well as in post-industrial areas in northern England and coastal areas in southern England.
45 wards in the North East fall into the category of left behind, representing 13.3% of all its wards – the highest percentage of any region. Meanwhile, 52 wards in the North West are classified as left behind – the greatest number of any region – representing 5.6% of all wards there.
The research contributed to the creation of an All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for ‘left-behind’ neighbourhoods between 2020 – 2024. The APPG was co-chaired by Dame Diana Johnson DBE MP and Paul Howell MP and brought together parliamentarians from across political parties.
Its aim was to improve social and economic outcomes for residents in communities that suffer from a combination of economic deprivation, poor connectivity, low levels of community engagement and a lack of community spaces and places.
We provided research and analysis to the APPG covering various themes and how they impact upon residents living in left-behind neighbourhoods.
Building on the work with Local Trust to develop a measure of Community Need for England, we then worked with Building Communities Trust (BCT) and British Red Cross in 2021 to develop a similar measure for Wales.
This led to further work with BCT to create the Welsh Community Resilience Index (WCRI), which revealed that those facing the greatest economic hardship also have the fewest community resources to support them.
The WCAI uses a similar methodological approach to the CNI England and identifies areas in Wales with a low number of civic and social assets – including community centres, charities, public spaces and local services. This helps to highlight where communities face challenges in engagement, connectivity and economic opportunity.
The Welsh Community Resilience Index (WCRI) adds to the WCAI, combining it with the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) – Wales’ official measure of poverty and disadvantage.
Areas scoring highest for need on the WCRI are categorised as Less Resilient Areas – where communities are particularly vulnerable due to limited access to services, weak civic infrastructure and economic hardship.
In 2021, British Red Cross commissioned the development of a Scotland-specific Community Needs Index to support their COVID-19 Response work.
The Scottish Community Needs Index (SCNI) has been constructed using the same methodology and domain structure as the English CNI, but there are substantial differences due to differing geographies and data availability in each of the nations.
In 2022, British Red Cross also commissioned the Northern Ireland Community Needs Index.
As with the Scottish index, the methodology closely follows the framework used in England, using the same domains and indicators where comparable data are available.
We’re now working with the Centre for Collaboration in Community Connectedness (C4) to develop an enhanced UK-wide Community Needs Index. This project aims to create a consistent framework across all four nations, allowing for more comparable analysis of community need across the UK.
With C4’s support, we’ll be able to move beyond a purely open data approach and access high-quality safeguarded datasets, including ONS microdata, strengthening the evidence base behind the Index. This multi-year collaboration also gives us the time and expertise to refine the statistical models and improve the reliability of small area measures.
Work is well underway, and we’re aiming to launch the Enhanced UK Community Needs Index on the C4 website in Summer 2026.
The Community Needs Index and related research have been used by central government, local authorities, funders and third sector organisations to help inform policy development and funding decisions.
The work has contributed to the evidence base behind several national initiatives and programmes.
London is often characterised as a city of wealth and opportunity, yet…
More
The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation (WIMD) is the official measure of…
More
