Post Office Act 1969

Transfer to the Post Office of the Postmaster General's statutory Rights and Liabilities as to Mails and Telegraphs and of Rights and Liabilities, &c, of his under certain Acts authorising the Acquisition of Land or the Execution of Works

20Rights and liabilities as to conveyance of mails

(1)On the appointed day—

(a)the right which, by virtue of subsection (1) of section 29 of the [1953 c. 36.] Post Office Act 1953 (hereafter in this section referred to as the " principal Act"), the Postmaster General enjoys immediately before that day to require a person by whom a ship is owned or worked to carry parcels in the ship and the countervailing obligation which, by virtue of subsection (2) of that section, is, immediately before that day, incumbent on him to pay remuneration for services rendered under that section shall become those of the Post Office;

(b)the rights which, by virtue of sections 33, 34, 36(1) and 42 of the principal Act (which contain provisions enabling him to compel railway undertakers to undertake the conveyance of mail-bags by train and by ships which are owned or worked by them or in the case of which they are parties to arrangements for the use, maintenance or working thereof) he enjoys immediately before that day and the countervailing obligations with respect to payment of remuneration for services performed which, immediately before that day, are, by virtue of sections 35 and 36(2) of the principal Act, incumbent on him shall become those of the Post Office ;

(c)the right which, by virtue of section 44(1)(b) and (c) of the principal Act, he enjoys immediately before that day to require the British Railways Board and certain other bodies which provide transport services to perform (subject to the restrictions imposed by section 45 of the principal Act) reasonable services with regard to the conveyance of mail-bags and the countervailing obligation which, by virtue of section 44(2) of the principal Act, is, immediately before that day, incumbent on him to pay remuneration for services performed shall become those of the Post Office; and

(d)the obligation to him which, by virtue of subsection (1) of section 38 of the principal Act, is, immediately before that day, incumbent on railway undertakers to perform services with respect to the conveyance of mail-bags and the other matters mentioned in that subsection and the right which, by virtue of subsection (2) of that section, they enjoy, immediately before that day, to receive from him remuneration for services performed shall respectively become an obligation to the Post Office and a right against it.

(2)Accordingly, as from the appointed day.—

(a)sections 29, 33 to 36, 38, 44 and 45 of the principal Act shall have effect as if, for references to the Postmaster General, there were substituted references to the Post Office ; and

(b)sections 39, 40 and 41 of that Act (which respectively prohibit railway undertakers from making byelaws, &c, which militate against the provisions of that Act relating to the conveyance of mails by railway, provide for the manner in which notices may be served under that Act on railway undertakers and penalize certain refusals and neglects by such undertakers in the matter of the conveyance of mails by railway) shall have similar effect.

21Rights and liabilities as to telegraphs

(1)On the appointed day, the rights and liabilities which, by virtue of the provisions of the Telegraph Acts which are not repealed by this Act, are enjoyed by, and incumbent on, the Postmaster General immediately before that day shall become those of the Post Office, and it shall become subject to the restrictions imposed by those provisions to which the Postmaster General is subject immediately before that day; and, accordingly.—

(a)on that day, so much of section 2 of the [1868 c. 110.] Telegraph Act 1868 as provides that the term " the company " in the [1863 c. 112.] Telegraph Act 1863 shall, in addition to the meaning assigned to it in that Act, mean the Postmaster General shall cease to have effect; and

(b)as from that day, references in the said provisions and in section 20 of the [1950 c. 39.] Public Utilities Street Works Act 1950 (which extends the powers exercisable under section 21 of the Telegraph Act 1863) to the company and to the Postmaster General (except references in such of those provisions as are expressly dealt with by the following provisions of this Act and except the first two references to the company in section 30 of the Telegraph Act 1863, the first three such references in section 33 of that Act, the ninth reference to the Postmaster General in section 6 of the [1878 c. 76.] Telegraph Act 1878, the first reference to him in the [1911 c. 39.] Telegraph (Construction) Act 1911 and the first reference to him in the [1916 c. 40.] Telegraph (Construction) Act 1916) shall be construed as referring to the Post Office, except so far as the context excludes such a construction, and the excepted references in the said sections 30, 33 and 6 and those in the two last-mentioned Acts shall be construed as including references to the Post Office.

(2)In this section "the Telegraph Acts" means the [1863 c. 112.] Telegraph Act 1863, the [1868 c. 110.] Telegraph Act 1868, the [1870 c. 88.] Telegraph Act 1870, the [1878 c. 76.] Telegraph Act 1878, the [1889 c. 34.] Telegraph (Isle of Man) Act 1889, the [1892 c. 59.] Telegraph Act 1892, the [1908 c. 33.] Telegraph (Construction) Act 1908, the [1909 c. 20.] Telegraph (Arbitration) Act 1909, the [1911 c. 39.] Telegraph (Construction) Act 1911 and the [1916 c. 40.] Telegraph (Construction) Act 1916.

22Rights and liabilities, arising out of Acts authorising the acquisition of land or the execution of works

(1)Any provision of the Sites Acts, the [1865 c. 87.] Post Office Extension Act 1865, the [1876 c. iii.] Manchester Post Office Act 1876, the [1913 c. cxvi.] Post Office (London) Railway Act 1913, the [1954 c. xxix.] Post Office (Site and Railway) Act 1954, the [1959 c. 43.] Post Office Works Act 1959 or the [1966 c. 25.] Post Office Subway Act 1966 which is in force immediately before the appointed day and contains references to the Postmaster General shall, so far as necessary for preserving its effect on and after that day, have effect as from that day as if those references were references to the Post Office.

(2)As from the appointed day, any rights or powers vested in, or exercisable by, the Post Office under the enactments relating to telegraphs in respect of works of any kind whatsoever executed under those enactments shall extend to, and may be exercised by it in respect of, the portions of the tube constructed by the Pneumatic Despatch Company, Limited, that vest in the Post Office by virtue of section 16 of this Act.

(3)Section 20 of the [1930 c. clxxix.] Bristol Cattle Market Act 1930 (which empowers the Postmaster General, amongst others, to enter into and carry out agreements with reference to any of the matters referred to in that Act or the agreements mentioned in that section) shall, as from the appointed day, have effect with the substitution, for the reference to the Postmaster General, of a reference to the Post Office.

(4)Section 16 of the [1950 c. v.] City of London (Various Powers) Act 1950 (which provides for the continuance of the making, by the Postmaster General, the Mayor and commonalty and citizens of the city of London acting by the common council and the Mercers' Company of certain periodic payments to the incumbents and clerks of certain benefices in the city, being payments originally required to be made under enactments repealed by that Act) shall, as from the appointed day, have effect as if, in Schedule 1 to that Act, for references to the Postmaster General, there were substituted references to the Post Office; and the rights of indemnity in favour of the Postmaster General that are saved by the proviso to section 18 of that Act shall, as from that day, enure for the benefit of the Post Office and the charges on property to secure the payment of money payable to the Postmaster General in respect of indemnities so saved which are themselves also saved by that proviso shall, as from that day, have effect accordingly.

(5)The reference in subsection (1) above to the Sites Acts is a reference to the Acts passed during the years 1885 to 1938 (both inclusive) the short title of each of which consists of the words " The Post Office (Sites) Act" followed by the year in which it was passed.