Dr Mitchel Langford has been awarded a 2020 Academic Fellowship by the Senedd Commission (the Senedd/Welsh Parliament’s corporate body) to pursue research on using network-based accessibility models to examine geographical patterns in the changing landscape of financial services provision in Wales

Following on from the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills Committee's recent inquiry into Access to Banking in Wales, Dr Langford's fellowship will utilise sophisticated spatial analysis techniques to report on current and recent changes in geographical accessibility to financial services. This will result in an evaluation of which areas and their occupants are potentially most impacted by any future changes to the physical banking infrastructure.

Key objectives include informing Senedd Members on current geographical patterns in levels of access to in-branch banking and ATM facilities across Wales; and the potential impacts of recent and future reductions in service provision on local communities.