Search

The UK, as elsewhere, has seen an accelerating trend of bank branch closures and reduced opening hours since the early 2000s. The reasons given by the banks are well rehearsed, but the impact assessments they provide to justify such programs and signpost alternatives have been widely criticized as being inadequate. This is particularly so for vulnerable customers dependent on financial services who may face difficulties in accessing remaining branches. There is a need whilst analyzing spatial patterns of access to also include temporal availability in relation to transport opportunities. Drawing on a case study of potential multi-modal accessibility to banks in Wales, we demonstrate how open-source tools can be used to examine patterns of access whilst considering the business operating hours of branches in relation to public transport schedules. The inclusion of public and private travel modes provides insights into access that are often overlooked by a consideration of service-side measures alone. Furthermore, findings from the types of tools developed in this study are illustrative of the additional information that could be included in holistic impact assessments, allowing the consequences of decisions being taken to close or reduce the operating hours of bank branches to be more clearly communicated to customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the 1783 two-volume report by the Bank of England's Committee of Inspection, the article explores how the Bank in London, England, responsible for managing Great Britain's national debt, managed the time of its customers and employees, Topics include the report being compiled and written after the American Revolution, public finance, charges of corruption, and public oversight of private campaniles including the Bank of England and the East India Company.

Managing waste is a crucial challenge for modern societies. Within the UK government's ambitious environmental targets, municipal Household Waste Recycling Centres represent key facilities. However, local authority budgets are under severe strain due to reductions in central government funding. Therefore, local councils often need to perform reconfigurations of the recycling centres networks, by reducing the number of sites or their opening hours while still ensuring adequate service levels. This paper describes a novel multi-period mathematical programming model for optimising reorganisational actions within Household Waste Recycling Centre networks. The model is tested on a case study based on an English local authority, in order to demonstrate its applicability to a real-world scenario, and its role in supporting decision-makers in deciding the best way to reorganise Household Waste Recycling Centres. • A model for restructuring Household Waste Recycling Centres networks is proposed. • The model is tested on a real-world case from an English local authority. • Network reconfiguration scenarios are considered. • The model is a viable tool which can be employed for planning purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]