Local Insight’s Upload Your Data and Services features can be used to quickly and easily visualise your own locally-held data.
Custom datasets can be uploaded at postcode, OA, LSOA, MSOA, or Local Authority level, and can subsequently be viewed on the map and dashboard. You can also upload binary datasets like surveys with yes/no answers. Local Insight will aggregate the datasets you upload to the custom areas you create within the tool. This allows you to visualise and analyse data at higher geographies, and see binary data presented as percentages.
The Services feature can be used to upload point data, at postcode level. You can upload up to 30 different service types, and add additional metadata to individual locations like their name, address, website or other information you’d like to include. You can then view these points on the map, and overlay data to provide greater context.
You can combine these features to overlay your custom datasets with the services you have uploaded, allowing you to look at your data together quickly and easily. Many of our clients are using this to support them to review their service provisions.
Case Study: Wirral Council
Wirral, who have a public site, used these two features in combination to review their library provision. They plotted local libraries as services on the map, and uploaded data – obtained directly from the libraries – around library usage. The data on library usage was broken down into library loans, library pc usage and e-book loans. This allowed them to quickly see that there were higher rates of pc usage at libraries in more deprived areas, and higher rates of e-book loans in less deprived areas.
Above: Library PC usage per 1,000 of the population
Above: Library e-book loans per 1,000 of the population
Case Study: Herts Sports Partnership
Herts Sports Partnership (HSP) use the two features in combination as a part of their grants process. They provide grants for activities to be carried out in the school holidays, and want to make sure that they are in the areas where they are most needed. HSP has obtained free school meals data from the local council, and uploaded this to Local Insight as a custom dataset. This allows them to map their grant applications as services on the map, and overlay the Free School Meals data. They will only consider applications in locations that fall into the top 20% of areas for free school meals, and the map legend allows them to easily identify those areas.
These are just a couple of ways that users have used this functionality to support their work. Other examples include:
- Sharing locally held data with partners and other stakeholders – for example; data on COVID cases and vaccination take up.
- Showing funders where grant applications have come from and where grants have been awarded.
- Providing more granular breakdowns for indicators – for example, age breakdowns for adults with learning disabilities
- Providing information on service usage, for example through importing data on membership to different libraries within their service patch or to identify the number of food parcels distributed by food banks.
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