The policy landscape for Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) is shifting fast. From stronger survivor protections to sharper focus on perpetrators, and increased momentum for multi-agency working, local areas are being asked to respond to complex and evolving challenges.

As a result, VAWG needs assessments have never been more critical – not just as a statutory requirement, but as a practical tool to shape smarter, fairer and more effective local responses.

This blog draws on our extensive experience of supporting local authorities, Police and Crime Commissioners and multi-agency partnerships to develop VAWG, Domestic Abuse and Victims needs assessments. We set out:

• Why needs assessments matter more than ever.
• What makes them robust, inclusive, and actionable.
• How we support clients to get them right.

Why invest in a VAWG needs assessment?

1. A statutory starting point – but policy expects more and survivors need more. Under Part 4 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, local authorities in England are legally required to carry out needs assessments every three years for accommodation-based domestic abuse support. While this duty provides a clear statutory anchor, national policy goes further. The VAWG National Statement of Expectations and VAWG Commissioning Toolkit both emphasise the importance of wider, holistic needs assessments to shape local strategies across prevention, protection, support, and justice. These assessments are not just good practice – they are essential to understand the full scale and diversity of need, ensure services are equitable and coordinated, and inform smart commissioning across the whole system.
2. They ensure services reflect real needs. One size does not fit all. Survivors’ needs vary based on intersecting characteristics such as age, ethnicity, disability, immigration status, and sexual orientation. Needs assessments help commissioners move away from one-size-fits-all models and tailor support to the diversity and demographics of their local area – as the Home Office’s 2022 National Statement of Expectations strongly encourages.
3. They help map the whole system. A robust needs assessment clarifies who provides what, where responsibility lies and whether services (for both survivors and perpetrators) are fit for purpose. This is vital for identifying gaps, preventing duplication, and making sense of the shifting VAWG landscape – especially during challenging periods like the cost-of-living crisis.
4. They centre survivor voice. Done well, needs assessments embed survivor and frontline perspectives at every stage. This helps build trust, reveal lived experience, and strengthen accountability – while offering practical insights into how services can be improved.

What do high-quality VAWG needs assessments look like?

1. Start with the right foundations. Start by involving the right stakeholders. The Home Office’s VAWG Services Commissioning Toolkit emphasises a multi-agency approach bringing together local authorities, Police and Crime Commissioners, national government, voluntary and community organisations and survivors themselves. Reviewing previous research and existing strategies helps establish a shared understanding of priorities, definitions, current knowledge and areas of divergence across partners. Aligning on priorities, definitions and existing intelligence sets the stage for collaborative insight and shared ownership.

2. Use robust data and research. An effective assessment combines:

• Epidemiological data (e.g. prevalence estimates, demographic profiling).
• Local intelligence (e.g. service monitoring data, funding data).
• Evidence of what works – including national benchmarks and practice reviews.

Triangulating these sources gives a nuanced and comprehensive picture of local need. For example, in our work on what works in delivering Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes for the Home Office we showed how tailored local analysis can drive smarter commissioning.

3. Map services across the whole system. This includes specialist and universal services including social care, health, education, criminal justice and community sectors – for both survivors and perpetrators. Key questions include:

• Where are the gaps?
• Are referral pathways clear?
• Is there coordination or duplication?

A good service map shows where integration is strong – and where improvement is needed.

4. Engage survivors, perpetrators and local partners with care. Insight from local partners and survivors is vital. Done ethically, trauma-informed survivor and perpetrator engagement offers real-world grounding that sharpens both strategy and implementation. It also supports buy-in and ownership from those most affected.

5. Identify strengths and strategic gaps. Findings should align with national and local frameworks (e.g. National Statement of Expectations, partner agencies’ strategic plans), and highlight:

• What’s working.
• What’s missing.
• Opportunities for cost-effectiveness, better coordination and futureproofing.

6. Turn findings into an actionable plan and local commissioning strategy. A great needs assessment doesn’t end with a report. It finishes with a clear, co-produced action plan and local commissioning strategy ideally tested with stakeholders and designed to inform future service design, funding and delivery. SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) recommendations make progress trackable and future updates easier.

Let’s strengthen your local VAWG strategy

Cordis Bright are a leading research and consultancy organisation working with partners across England and Wales on VAWG and domestic abuse. We specialise in:

• VAWG and domestic abuse needs assessments.
• Service reviews.
• Evaluations of pilots, programmes and whole system approaches.
• Research which engages a wide range of stakeholders, including survivors, perpetrators, frontline staff, service providers, commissioners, and anyone else with a role to play in tackling VAWG and domestic abuse.
• Support to understand and influence local systems.

Whether you’re updating an existing needs assessment or commissioning one for the first time, we can help. We bring experience in:

• Understanding the complexities of multi-agency working
• Safeguarding and trauma-informed research
• Participative and co-productive research with those with lived experience
• System mapping
• Designing and delivering qualitative and quantitative research methods which answer the most important questions for our clients, are practical to deliver, and limit the ask on local stakeholders.

Get in touch to learn more about our approach – and how we can help you develop a needs assessment that not only meets your and partners’ needs, but is truly transformative. Please contact: Hannah Nickson or Louise Ashwell.

For more information about our recent publicly available projects in this space see: here.