The Postal Services Act 2000 (c. 26) is an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, relating to the postal industry. It established an industry regulator, Postcomm (s.1), a

consumer watchdog Consumer Watchdog (formerly the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights) is a non-profit, progressive organization which advocates for taxpayer and consumer interests, with a focus on insurance, health care, political reform, privacy and ener ...

Postwatch The New National Consumer Council, operating as Consumer Futures, was a non-departmental public body and statutory consumer organisation in England, Wales, Scotland, and, for postal services, Northern Ireland. It was established by the Consumers, ...

(s.2), required a "

universal service Universal service is an economic, legal and business term used mostly in regulated industries, referring to the practice of providing a baseline level of services to every resident of a country. An example of this concept is found in the US Telec ...

" of post to be provided (ss.3-4) and set up rules for licensing postal services operators (ss.6-41). It also converted the public branch of the postal industry, the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, from a

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

to a

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company ...

, wholly owned by the government.

Background

Second Reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming, ...

of the bill, and debate, introduced by Secretary of State for Trade and Industry,

Stephen Byers Stephen John Byers (born 13 April 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallsend between 1992 and 1997, and North Tyneside from 1997 to 2010. He served in the Cabinet from 1998 to 2002, and was ...

. Parliamentary Undersecretary

Alan Johnson Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2006 to 2007, Secretary of State for Health from 2007 to 2009, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, and Shadow Chancel ...

summed up the bill before the vote.

Liberalisation

The Postal Services Regulations 1999
SI 1999/2107
The Postal Services (EC Directive) Regulations 2002

, r.8 Section 11 allows PostComm to grant licences that would otherwise contravene section 6(1), the general prohibition on conveying a letter from one place to another. Section 7 (amended by the 2002 regulations) stated that section 6(1) would not be contravened by carrying letters under £1 value.

Regulations

* Postal Services Act 2000 (Consequential Modifications to Local Enactments) Order 2003 ( SI 2003/1542) * Postal Services Act 2000 (Commencement No. 5) Order 2007 ( SI 2007/1181) * Postal Packets (Revenue and Customs) Regulations 2007 ( SI 2007/2195)

References

{{UK legislation United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2000 Postal system of the United Kingdom Royal Mail

Background

Liberalisation

Regulations

See also

References