Postal Services Act 2011 Explanatory Notes

1. Introduction

2. Background

3. Purpose of the Act

4. Structure of the Act

5. Territorial Extent

6. Commentary on Sections

   1. Part 1: Restructuring of Royal Mail Group

      1. Summary and Background

      2. Removal of existing statutory restrictions on ownership

         1. Section 1: Removal of restrictions on ownership of Royal Mail Holdings plc etc

      3. Ownership of the Royal Mail

         1. Section 2: Report on decision to dispose of shares in a Royal Mail company etc

         2. Section 3:  Establishment of employee share scheme

      4. Ownership of the Post Office

         1. Section 4: Restrictions on issue and transfer of shares and share rights in a Post Office company etc

         2. Section 5: Report on a transfer of an interest in a Post Office company to a relevant mutual

         3. Section 6: Meaning of “Post Office company”

         4. Section 7: Meaning of “relevant mutual”

      5. Transfer of property etc

         1. Section 8: Transfer schemes

         2. Section 9: Transfer of employees otherwise than under transfer scheme

         3. Section 10: Taxation provisions relating to re-structuring

      6. Supplementary provisions

         1. Section 11: Annual report on post office network

         2. Section 12: Annual report on postal museum collection and archive

         3. Section 13: Directions

      7. Interpretation

         1. Section 14: Ownership of companies

   2. Part 2: Royal Mail Pension Plan

      1. Summary and background

      2. Introduction

         1. Section 16: Introduction

      3. Powers exercisable

         1. Section 17: Transfer of qualifying accrued rights to new public scheme

         2. Section 18: Division of the Royal Mail Pension Plan (“RMPP into different sections

         3. Section 19: Amendments of the Royal Mail Pension Plan (“RMPP

         4. Section 20: Protection against adverse treatment

         5. Section 21: Transfer of assets of the Royal Mail Pension Plan (“RMPP

         6. Section 22: Restriction on power to transfer assets

      4. Supplementary provisions

         1. Section 23: Taxation

         2. Section 24: Information

         3. Section 25: Orders and regulations

         4. Section 26: Interpretation of Part 2

   3. Part 3: Regulation of postal services

      1. Summary and Background

      2. Postal services

         1. Section 27: Postal services, postal packets and postal operators

         2. Section 28: General authorisation to provide postal services

      3. The universal postal service

         1. Section 29: Duty to secure provision of universal postal service

         2. Section 30: The universal postal service

         3. Section 31: Minimum requirements

         4. Section 32: Section 31: definitions

         5. Section 33: Exceptions to minimum requirements

         6. Section 34: Review of minimum requirements

      4. Universal service providers

         1. Section 35: Designation of universal service providers

         2. Section 36: Designated USP conditions

         3. Section 37: Publication of information about performance

         4. Section 38: USP Access conditions

         5. Section 39: USP accounting conditions

      5. Persons providing services within scope of universal postal service

         1. Section 40: Services within scope of the universal postal service

         2. Section 41: Notification condition

         3. Section 42: General universal service conditions

         4. Section 43: Recovery of administrative charges incurred by OFCOM

      6. Financial support for universal postal service

         1. Section 44: Review of costs of universal service obligations

         2. Section 45: Fairness of bearing burden of universal service obligations

         3. Section 46: Contributions for meeting burden

         4. Section 47: Report on sharing mechanism

      7. Postal operators generally

         1. Section 48: Notification by postal operators

         2. Section 49: Essential conditions

         3. Section 50: General access conditions

         4. Section 51: Consumer protection conditions

         5. Section 52: Provision that may be made by consumer protection conditions

      8. General provisions

         1. Section 53: Imposition, modification or revocation of regulatory conditions

         2. Section 54: Enforcement of regulatory requirements

         3. Section 55: Information

         4. Section 56: General restriction on disclosure of information

      9. Appeals

         1. Section 57: Decisions by OFCOM to impose regulatory conditions, impose penalties etc

         2. Section 58:  Appeals from the CAT

         3. Section 59: Price control decisions

         4. Section 60: section 59 supplementary

      10. Supplementary and consequential provisions

          1. Section 61: Duties in relation to social and environmental matters

          2. Section 62:  UK postage stamps bearing image of Her Majesty

          3. Section 63: Orders, schemes and regulations made by OFCOM

          4. Section 64: Abolition of Postal Services Commission etc

          5. Section 65: Interpretation of Part 3

          6. Section 66: Transitional provisions for Part 3

          7. Section 67: Review of Part 3

   4. Part 4: Special Administration

      1. Summary and background

      2. Postal administration orders

         1. Section 68: Postal administration orders

         2. Section 69: Objective of a postal administration

         3. Section 70:  Applications for postal administration orders

         4. Section 71: Powers of the court

         5. Section 72: Postal administrators

         6. Section 73: Conduct of administration, transfer schemes etc

      3. Restrictions on other insolvency procedures

         1. Section 74: Winding up orders

         2. Section 75: Voluntary winding up

         3. Section 76: Making of ordinary administration orders

         4. Section 77: Administrator appointments by creditors etc

         5. Section 78:  Enforcement of security

      4. Financial support for companies in administration

         1. Section 79: Grants and Loans

         2. Section 80: Indemnities

         3. Section 81: Guarantees where postal administration order is made

      5. Modifications of regulatory conditions etc

         1. Section 82: Regulatory powers exercisable during postal administration

         2. Section 83: Regulatory conditions to secure funding of postal administration order

      6. Supplemental provision of Part 4

         1. Section 84:  Modification of this Part under Enterprise Act 2002

         2. Section 86: Partnerships

         3. Section 87: Northern Ireland

         4. Section 88: Review of Part 4

   5. Part 5: General

      1. Section 89: Orders and regulations made by Ministers of the Crown

      2. Section 90: Minor definitions

      3. Section 91: Minor and consequential amendments

      4. Section 92: Financial Provisions

      5. Section 93: Short title, commencement and extent

   6. Schedules

      1. Schedule 1: Transfer Schemes

      2. Schedule 2: Taxation provisions relating to re-structuring etc

      3. Schedule 3: Access conditions

         1. Part 1 Provision that may be made by access conditions

         2. Part 2 Resolution of access disputes by OFCOM

      4. Schedule 4: Recovery of administrative charges incurred by OFCOM

      5. Schedule 5: Approval of redress schemes

      6. Schedule 6: Imposition, modification or revocation

      7. Schedule 7: Enforcement of regulatory requirements

      8. Schedule 8: Information provisions

         1. Part 1 Requirements to provide information to OFCOM

         2. Part 2 Enforcement

         3. Part 3 Supplementary provisions

      9. Schedule 9: Transitional provisions for Part 3

      10. Schedule 10: Conduct of postal administration

      11. Schedule 11: Postal transfer schemes

      12. Schedule 12: Minor and consequential amendments

7. Transposition of European Directives

8. Commencement Date

9. Hansard

10. Annex Transposition Notes for the Postal Services Directive (2008/6/Ec)