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The Post Office Act 1969 (c. 48) is an act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...
that changed the
General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...
from a department of state to a public corporation, known as the
Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
. It also abolished the office of
Postmaster General of the United Kingdom Postmaster General of the United Kingdom was a Cabinet of the United Kingdom, Cabinet Minister of the Crown, ministerial position in Her Majesty's Government, HM Government. Aside from maintaining mail, the postal system, the Telegraph Act 1868 ...
. The powers of the Postmaster General were transferred to a new cabinet member, the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications. The incumbent Postmaster, John Stonehouse, became the first Minister of Post and Telecommunications on 1 October 1969. The act created a new public corporation, the Post Office, as the "authority for the conduct of postal and telegraphic business". The corporation was to consist of a chairman and between six and twelve full or part-time members. The chairman was to be appointed by the minister and the other members by the minister following consultation with the chairman. The first Chairman of the Post Office was Viscount Hall. The main powers given to the new body were: *To provide postal services (including cash on delivery services) and telecommunication services *To provide a banking service of the kind commonly known as a giro system and such other services by means of which money may be remitted (whether by means of money orders, postal orders or otherwise) as it thinks fit *To provide data processing services *To perform services for Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, Her Majesty's Government in Northern Ireland or the government of a country or territory outside the United Kingdom or for local or national health service authorities in the United Kingdom.


References

United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 1969 General Post Office Royal Mail {{UK-statute-stub