Abstract
The United Kingdom Post Office is a statutory corporation organized into three main businesses—letters, parcels, and counters. The counters business was established as a wholly owned subsidiary, Post Office Counters Ltd., in October 1987. The letters and parcels businesses are not separate legal entities, but they have their own internal accounts and are organizationally distinct. The Post Office derives its powers mainly from Section 7 of the Post Office Act 1969; it has the power to provide the various services specified there which include postal services, banking services, and services for Government. Section 59 of the British Telecommunication Act 1981 (BT Act 1981) requires the Post Office in exercising its powers to have regard to (1) efficiency and economy; (2) the social, industrial and commercial needs of the United Kingdom with respect to the matters subserved by its powers; (3) the desirability of improving and developing its operating systems; and (4) developments in the field of communications and banking. Additionally, The Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has the power (HMSO 1969) to direct the Post Office to do work of any kind for government departments and local authorities.
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Dobbs, I., Richards, P., Ireland, N. (1991). Assessing the Welfare Effects of Entry into Letter Delivery. In: Crew, M.A., Kleindorfer, P.R. (eds) Competition and Innovation in Postal Services. Topics in Regulatory Economics and Policy Series, vol 8. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4818-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-4818-5_4
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