Accessibility and public service provision: evaluating the impacts of the Post Office Network Change Programme in the UK

Mitchel Langford · Gary Higgs

44 citations0/0 files storedTransactions of the Institute of British Geographers

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Geographic Information Systems Studies Urban Transport and Accessibility Urban Green Space and Health

Abstract

The importance of public service provision and accessibility in shaping government policies aimed at enhancing social inclusion and ensuring social justice in the UK is well founded. The capabilities of GIS for generating information to address such concerns have facilitated a widespread interest in measuring and analysing accessibility to public services. Previous studies have drawn attention to the potential implications of any changes in the provision of essential services such as post offices, food shops or GP surgeries. For example, the number of post offices in the UK has declined significantly since the mid 1960s and GIS has been used to monitor spatial and temporal patterns in closures in previous research studies. The aim of this paper is to assess the implications of the 2007–08 Network Change Programme on the spatial configuration of post offices in Wales. Using a network analysis approach, we identify those areas that have no service within the access criteria used to guide the closure programme and calculate the extra distances involved in travelling to the nearest outlet following closures. Our results suggest that national guidelines on provision of post offices are not met in Wales or within any of the five area plans that cover Wales. Perceptions that it is rural areas that have been disproportionately impacted can be challenged on the basis of the measure used to examine such changes. Such findings can provide an important context to in-depth surveys of the impacts of the closure programme on potentially vulnerable groups within both urban and rural communities. Furthermore they demonstrate how GIS-based analysis can inform policymakers of the potential impact of changes in provision for those most dependent on a range of public services.

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References

2006Comparing GIS-Based Methods of Measuring Spatial Accessibility to Health Services 2008Do poorer people have poorer access to local resources and facilities? The distribution of local resources by area deprivation in Glasgow, Scotland 2010Mapping transit‐based access: integrating GIS, routes and schedules 2009Investigating links between transport disadvantage, social exclusion and well-being in Melbourne—Preliminary results 2003Neighborhoods as Service Providers: A Methodology for Evaluating Pedestrian Access 2003The Quality of Urban Environments: Mapping Variation in Access to Community Resources 2006Measuring the Accessibility of Services and Facilities for Residents of Public Housing in Montreal 2002Using accessibility measures to integrate land use and transport policy in Edinburgh and the Lothians

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2011A GIS-based method to identify spatiotemporal gaps in public service delivery 2022Investigating the impact of bank branch closures on access to financial services in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic 2020Les réformes et l’État et la transformation des services publics : des tendances internationales au local, quels effets pour les territoires ?2019

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