UK legislation relating to the postal industry
A number of Acts implemented by the UK Government are relevant to the postal industry. In particular, the Postal Services Act 2011 sets out Ofcom’s duty to secure the provision of the universal postal service.
Under the Postal Services Act 2011 (“the Act”) Ofcom’s primary duty in relation to postal services is to carry out its functions in a way that it considers will secure the provision of a universal postal service. The Act implements the Third Postal Directive the objective of which is to create a single market for postal services in the EU, while ensuring a high quality universal service.
The key UK legislation is:
Postal Services Act 2011
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2011/5/contents
Postal Services Act 2000
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/26/contents
Communications Act 2003
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/21/contents
Office of Communications Act 2002
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/11/contents
Enterprise Act 2002
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/40/contents
Competition Act 1998
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/41/contents
Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2007/17/contents
The Third Postal Directive (Directive 2008/06/EC) can be found here:
http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/post/legislation/index_en.htm#maincontentSec5
An unofficial consolidated version of the Postal Directives can be found here:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31997L0067:en:NOT