13Restriction of carrying on by the Post Office and its subsidiaries of certain activities
(1)Consultation with the Minister by the Post Office shall be requisite before it or a subsidiary of its constructs, manufactures or produces, for the relevant purpose, things of any kind to an extent substantially greater than that to which the Postmaster General constructed, manufactured or produced, for the corresponding purpose, things of that kind during the period beginning with the 1st April 1961 and ending with the day immediately preceding the appointed day; and it shall similarly be requisite before the Post Office or a subsidiary of its constructs, manufactures or produces, to a substantial extent for the relevant purpose, things of a kind that the Postmaster General did not construct, manufacture or produce for the corresponding purpose during that period.
(2)The approval of the Minister shall be requisite to the carrying on by the Post Office or a subsidiary of its of activities consisting in the construction, manufacture, production or purchase for supply to outside persons of things for use by such persons otherwise than in connection with services provided by the Post Office or a subsidiary of its; and—
(a)the approval of the Minister may be given for the purposes of this subsection subject to such conditions (if any) as he may deem fit; but
(b)notwithstanding the giving of approval, the Minister may at any time, after consultation with the Post Office, direct it to discontinue or, as the case may be, to exercise its control over a subsidiary of its so as to require the subsidiary to discontinue, any activity that the Post Office or, as the case may be, the subsidiary is carrying on with approval.
(3)The Minister shall publish, in such manner as he thinks fit, particulars of any approval given under the last foregoing subsection by him, and shall send them to the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress.
(4)In carrying on any activities to which subsection (2) of this section applies the Post Office shall act as if it were a company engaged in a commercial enterprise, and it shall so exercise its control over a subsidiary of its that carries on any such activities as to ensure that the subsidiary so acts.
(5)In this section.—
(a)" outside persons" means persons other than the Post Office or its subsidiaries;
(b)" the relevant purpose " means the purpose of use by the Post Office or a subsidiary of its or of supply to outside persons for use by them in connection with services provided by the Post Office or a subsidiary of its; and
(c)" the corresponding purpose " means the purpose of use by the Postmaster General or of supply to others for use by them in connection with services provided by him;
and, for the purposes of this section, the assembly of an article in the course of its installation at the place where it is to be used shall not be taken to constitute its manufacture, construction or production.