Local Needs Analysis

Every place is different, and good decisions rely on good data. Our Local Needs Analysis tool brings together thousands of verified data points so you can quickly understand what really matters in your area and build stronger, evidence-led social value plans.

This guide will walk you through how to get the most out of it.

1. Start with a Location

All you need is a postcode, or the name of a town or city.

Enter it into the search bar and the tool instantly unlocks trusted public data from sources such as:

Office for National Statistics
Public Health England
Ministry of Justice
Environment and housing datasets
And many more

No setup. No configuration. Just type and go.

2. Choose the Themes That Matter to You

You can tailor your analysis by selecting the topics you care about most. Popular themes include:

Affordability and cost of living
Health and wellbeing
Green spaces and environment
Digital inclusion
Volunteering and community participation
Crime and justice
Greenhouse gas emissions

Choose as many as you need, the tool will adapt automatically.

3. Explore Interactive Maps and Indicators

Once your area and themes are set:

Review interactive maps to see patterns, hotspots, and comparisons.
Drill into local indicators for detailed figures and trends.
Understand the story behind the numbers with clear explanations and context.

Everything is designed to help you see what's happening on the ground, at a glance.

4. Generate Your Local Needs Analysis

In just a few clicks, the tool produces a full Local Needs Analysis for your chosen area(s).
The workflow is intentionally simple, a short, intuitive series of steps from start to finish.

Your report includes:

Key insights and summaries
Detailed data tables
Visual charts and graphics
A clear narrative explaining what the data means
Full source references so every figure can be checked and validated

You can copy content directly or export the full report in a PDF-style format.

5. Trust the Analysis, and the People Behind It

While the tool is powered by AI and real public data, we don't leave everything to algorithms alone.

Every analysis is:

Reviewed by our consultancy team
Refined for accuracy and relevance
Checked against real-world local context
Strengthened with professional judgement where needed

This ensures your results are not only data-rich, but robust, reliable, and ready for reporting.

6. Use Your Insights to Drive Real Change

Whether you're preparing a bid, shaping a strategy, designing a programme, or understanding community priorities, your Local Needs Analysis gives you the evidence you need to act with confidence.

Change just got real.

Using Local Needs Analysis in bids and procurement

LNA is particularly powerful when bidding for public sector contracts, where commissioners increasingly expect social value commitments to be place-responsive, not just generic. Running an LNA for the area covered by a tender gives you credible, source-referenced evidence that your proposed activities address real local priorities.

Specifically, LNA supports your bids by:

Demonstrating local knowledge, showing commissioners you understand the community you're proposing to serve
Justifying your choice of activities, linking your proposed social value commitments to evidenced need rather than assumption
Strengthening SDG alignment, grounding your SDG tagging in local data rather than generic claims
Supporting the Procurement Act 2023 requirement to consider community priorities, evidencing how your approach responds to the wellbeing of the relevant area

LNA and benchmarking: While Impact does not provide direct comparisons against other organisations' social value outputs, LNA gives you an evidence-led benchmark of what matters most in a given area. Aligning your activities to high-need local indicators and demonstrating that alignment in bids is a strong commercial differentiator.

👉 See Creating a Bid and Procurement Act 2023 for related guidance.