Left-Behind Neighbourhoods

Community Needs Index

Identifying Economic Deprivation and Community Vulnerability

The Community Needs Index provides a unique perspective on local need by focusing on the social and cultural factors that can contribute to poorer life outcomes in communities. 

This Index is an essential tool for policymakers to target investment in social infrastructure effectively.

The Index is available at ward level and covers 19 indicators across the domains of:

• Civic assets: Presence or absence of key community, civic, educational and cultural assets in and in close proximity to the area
• Connectedness: Connectivity to key services, digital infrastructure, isolation and strength of the local jobs market
• Engaged communities: Civic, third sector and community participation of the local population and barriers to participation and engagement 

If you want to access the Community Needs Index, you can do so through our platform, Local Insight.

Local Community Needs Index Analysis for your area: Uncover Hidden Challenges

While this is a national measure, we also offer more detailed analysis for local areas. This gives a more granular insight into local community need that may be masked by a national measure.

Community Needs Index analysis includes:

• A deep dive into the community needs for your areas: What are the drivers, which areas are most impacted and what is the relationship between community need and deprivation
• Analysis of the underlying component indicators of the Community Needs Index: To determine whether there are particular indicators contributing to high community need
• The relationship between the different dimensions of Community Need
• Analysis of any left-behind neighbourhoods within your area: To understand the particular challenges they face.

Case study