OpenLegislation

The Postal Services Act 2011 (Disclosure of Information) Order 2012

Draft. This instrument was laid in draft and may differ from the one made. Look for the made version under its title.

Draft 2012, ISBN 9780111521021

Original text. legislation.gov.uk does not revise statutory instruments, so later amendments are not shown here. Changes made to it are listed under each provision when known.

This draft Statutory Instrument supersedes the draft of the same title which was laid before Parliament on 9th February 2012 and published on 13th February 2012 and is being issued free of charge to all known recipients of that draft Statutory Instrument.

Draft Order laid before Parliament under section 56(4) and 89(4) of the Postal Services Act 2011, for approval by resolution of each House of Parliament.

Postal Services

Made 2012

Coming into force in accordance with article 1

The Secretary of State makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 56(2) and (3) of the Postal Services Act 2011f1.

In accordance with sections 56(4) and 89(4) of that Act a draft of this Order was laid before and approved by a resolution of each House of Parliament.

Annotations to the whole text

Footnotes

f1

2011 c.5.

Contents

  1. 1Citation and Commencement
  2. 2Interpretation
  3. 3Prescription of bodies and persons
  4. 4Prescription of enactments
  5. 5Prescription of other circumstances and purposes
  6. Signature
  7. Explanatory note

1Citation and Commencement

(1)

This Order may be cited as the Postal Services Act 2011 (Disclosure of Information) Order 2012.

(2)

This Order comes into force on the day following the day on which it is made.

2Interpretation

In this Order, “the Act” means the Postal Services Act 2011.

3Prescription of bodies and persons

Each of the following is a prescribed body or other person for the purposes of section 56(2)(d) of the Act—

the Civil Aviation Authority;

the Coal Authority;

the Competition Commission;

the Consumer Panel (as established under section 16(2) of the Communications Act 2003f1);

any district council in Northern Ireland;

the Financial Services Authority;

the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority;

the Health and Safety Executive;

the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland;

the Insolvency Practitioners Tribunal;

any local weights and measures authority in Great Britain;

any Minister of the Crown;

the National Consumer Council;

the Northern Ireland Authority for Utility Regulation;

any Northern Ireland department;

any Northern Ireland Minister;

the Office of Fair Trading;

the Office of Rail Regulation;

any official receiver in England, Wales or Northern Ireland;

any Scottish Minister;

the Treasury;

the Water Appeals Commission for Northern Ireland;

the Water Services Regulation Authority.

4Prescription of enactments

Each of the following is a prescribed enactment for the purposes of section 56(2)(d) or (f) of the Act—

the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965f1;

the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1967f2;

the Trade Descriptions Act 1968f3;

the Friendly and Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1968f4;

the Fair Trading Act 1973f5;

the Health and Safety at Work etc. Actf6;

the Consumer Credit Act 1974f7;

the Friendly Societies Act 1974f8;

the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1975f9;

the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1978f10;

the Credit Unions Act 1979f11;

the Estate Agents Act 1979f12;

the Competition Act 1980f13;

the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980f14;

the Telecommunications Act 1984f15;

the Companies Act 1985f16;

the Airports Act 1986f17;

the Gas Act 1986f18;

the Insolvency Act 1986f19;

the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986f20;

the Building Societies Act 1986f21;

the Consumer Protection Act 1987f22;

the Water Act 1989f23;

the Electricity Act 1989f24;

the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990f25;

the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990f26;

the Broadcasting Act 1990f27;

the Property Misdescriptions Act 1991f28;

the Water Industry Act 1991f29;

the Water Resources Act 1991f30;

the Friendly Societies Act 1992f31;

the Railways Act 1993f32;

the Coal Industry Act 1994f33;

the Employment Rights Act 1996f34;

the Competition Act 1998f35;

the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000f36;

the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000f37;

the Postal Services Act 2000f38;

the Utilities Act 2000f39;

Part I of the Transport Act 2000 f40;

the Insolvency Act 2000f41;

the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001f42;

the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 2002f43;

the Enterprise Act 2002f44;

the Communications Act 2003f45;

the Water Act 2003f46;

the Consumer Credit Act 2006f47;

the Companies Act 2006f48;

the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007f49;

the Legal Services Act 2007f50;

Schedule 7 to the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008f51;

the Health and Safety at Work (Northern Ireland) Order 1978f52;

the Audit (Northern Ireland) Order 1987f53;

the Insolvency (Northern Ireland) Order 1989f54;

the EEC Merger Control (Distinct Market Investigations) Regulations 1990f55;

the Electricity (Northern Ireland) Order 1992f56;

Part IV of the Airports (Northern Ireland) Order 1994f57;

the Gas (Northern Ireland) Order 1996f58;

the Water (Northern Ireland) Order 1999f59;

the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999f60;

the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000f61;

the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002f62;

the Energy (Northern Ireland) Order 2003f63;

the Competition Act 1998 (Concurrency) Regulations 2004f64;

the Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004f65;

the Water Services etc. (Scotland) Act 2005 (Consequential Provisions and Modifications) Order 2005f66;

the Water and Sewerage Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006f67;

the Money Laundering Regulations 2007f68;

the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008f69;

the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008f70;

the Payment Services Regulations 2009f71.

5Prescription of other circumstances and purposes

Each of the following is a prescribed circumstance or purpose for the purposes of section 56(2)(h) of the Act—

(a)

the carrying out by the Comptroller and Auditor General, or the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland, of any of their functions under any enactment;

(b)

complying with any international obligation of the United Kingdom;

(c)

the conduct of negotiations by the Secretary of State with representatives of the government of a country outside the United Kingdom;

(d)

the provision of information, by or with the consent of the Secretary of State, to any international organisation of which the United Kingdom is a member.

Signature

Name

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Date

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)

Section 56 of the Postal Services Act 2011 (c.5) (“the Act”) imposes a general prohibition on the disclosure of information that relates to an individual or particular business and is obtained by virtue of Part 3 (Regulation of Postal Services) of the Act (“information”), except as permitted by the section.

Subsection (2) provides certain exemptions to the general prohibition. Subsections (2)(a), (b) and (c) have the effect of permitting disclosure of information with the consent of those concerned and to facilitate the carrying out of functions of OFCOM, the Secretary of State, the Treasury or the Competition Commission under the Act. Subsections (2)(d), (f) and (h) give the Secretary of State the power to prescribe, by Order, further persons, enactments, circumstances or purposes so as to permit disclosure of information under those subsections.

This Order provides that the Secretary of State prescribes bodies and other persons, enactments, circumstances or purposes for the purposes of disclosure of information permitted under section 56 of the Act.

Taken together with the exemptions to the general prohibition on disclosure provided in section 56(2), the provisions of this Order have the effect of creating a disclosure regime comparable to the (now repealed) permitted disclosure regime in Schedule 7 to the Postal Services Act 2000 (c.26).

Article 1 provides that the Order shall come into force on the day following that on which it is made.

Article 3 prescribes certain bodies and other persons (“prescribed persons”), with the effect that disclosure of information is permitted under section 56(2)(d) of the 2011 Act, for the purposes of facilitating their carrying out of any functions under enactments prescribed by article 4.

Article 4 prescribes enactments so as to permit, under section 56(2)(d), disclosure of information by prescribed persons to facilitate the carrying out of their functions under those enactments. Disclosure of information for the purposes of civil proceedings brought under those enactments is also permitted, under subsection (2)(f) of the Act.

Article 5 prescribes certain other circumstances and purposes, with the effect that disclosure of information in and for those circumstances and purposes is permitted under section 56(2)(h) of the Act.