Abstract
Many post offices in the UK have been or are in the process of being closed. The process of deciding which post office to close has been criticised for a lack of transparency and evidence. This work analysed the impact of proposed post office closures in an English county against national access criteria. Only one of five access criteria were satisfied by current proposals. An optimisation model was then used to identify alternative sets of post offices to close by minimising the ‘losers’ in terms of increased access distance for a) the whole population b) limiting long-term illness, and c) full time carers. Combining a GIS-based network analysis with an optimisation model was shown be an appropriate method to minimise the numbers of targeted groups who experience a decline in post office accessibility. As national targets will result locally in ‘winners and ‘losers’, the method is a tool for generating evidence in support of policy, it allows sub-national analyses (e.g. at a local authority level) of the impacts of closures and can identify alternative closures better suited to local priorities.
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Notes
In the UK the regulator acts as a buffer between the government minister and the activities of the ministry: the minister is ‘accountable’ but the regulator is ‘responsible’ (Ed Balls, BBC Today programme, 18th July 2008).
Outreach post offices include mobile post offices, services with a local partner such as a pub landlord, hosted services where a post office is set up for restricted hours on the premises of another business and home delivery of services ordered over the phone.
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Comber, A., Brunsdon, C., Hardy, J. et al. Using a GIS—Based Network Analysis and Optimisation Routines to Evaluate Service Provision: A Case Study of the UK Post Office. Appl. Spatial Analysis 2, 47–64 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-008-9018-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-008-9018-0