{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/post-office-act-1953-repealed/section-51",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/post-office-act-1953-repealed/section-51.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/Eliz2/1-2/36",
  "legislation_title": "Post Office Act 1953 (repealed)",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/post-office-act-1953-repealed",
  "path": "section/51",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "51",
  "heading": "Power of local authority to contribute towards new post office or extra postal facilities.",
  "text": "(1) Where the council of any borough or district consider that it would be beneficial to the inhabitants of the borough or district that any new post office should be on a more expensive site, or of a larger size, or of a more ornate building, or otherwise of a more expensive character than the Post Office would otherwise provide, the council may contribute towards the new post office, either by a grant of money or, with the consent of the Minister of Housing and Local Government, by the appropriation of land belonging to the council or by the purchase of land for the purpose.\n(2) Where the council of any London borough consider that it would be beneficial to the inhabitants of the borough . . . that any post or telegraph office should be established, or any additional postal or other facilities should be provided, by the Post Office in or for the purposes of the borough . . . the council may undertake to pay to the Post Office any loss it may sustain by reason of the establishment or maintenance of the office or the provision of the facilities.\n(3) Where the council of any . . . district, or the parish council of a parish, or in the case of a parish not having a parish council the parish meeting, consider that it would be for the benefit, in the case of a . . . district council, of any . . . place or places within their district or, in the case of a parish council or parish meeting, of their parish, that any post or other telegraph office should be established, or any additional postal or facilities should be provided, by the Post Office whether within or without the area to be benefited, that council or meeting may undertake to pay to the Post Office any loss it may sustain by reason of the establishment or maintenance of the office or the provision of the facilities: . . .\n(4) The council of a borough or district may borrow for the purpose of subsection (1) of this section.\n(5) The foregoing provisions of this section shall, in their application to Scotland, have effect subject to the following modifications:—\n(a) for the reference to the Minister of Housing and Local Government there shall be substituted a reference to the Secretary of State; for references to a borough urban district, rural district or parish and to the council thereof there shall be substituted references to a local government area and to the council thereof (constituted under section 2 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994); and references to a contributory place and to a parish meeting shall be omitted;\n(b) subsection (2), and subsection (3) from the words “and any” onwards, shall be omitted;\n(c) . . .\n(d) nothing in subsection (3) shall authorise the establishment of an office or the provision of facilities outside the area to be benefited.\n(6) This section shall, in its application to Northern Ireland, have effect subject to the following modifications:—\n(a) for the reference in subsection (1) to the Minister of Housing and Local Government there shall be substituted a reference to the Department of Environment for Northern Ireland;\n(aa) for any reference to the council of any borough or urban district there shall be substituted a reference to a district council established under the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972;\n(ab) subsection (3) shall be omitted;\nb)—(e) . . .\n(f) subsection (4) shall be omitted.\n(7) This section shall, in its application to the Isle of Man, have effect subject to the following modifications:—\n(a) for the reference in subsection (1) to the Minister of Housing and Local Government there shall be substituted a reference to the Isle of Man Local Government Board; and for the references in that subsection to a borough or urban district and to the council thereof there shall be respectively substituted references to a local government district and to the local authority;\n(b) any expenses incurred under subsection (1) may be paid as expenses of the local authority out of the district fund, and any money may be borrowed for the purposes of this section in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as if those purposes were purposes of the Local Government Acts 1916 to 1952, being Acts of the legislature of the Isle of Man, or any other Act of that legislature amending those Acts;\n(c) subsections (2) to (4) shall be omitted.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Word substituted by virtue of Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70), s. 179(3)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Words substituted by virtue of Post Office Act 1969 (c. 48), Sch. 4 para. 2(11)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Words substituted by Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70), Sch. 29 para. 36"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "Words repealed by Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70), Sch. 30"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F5",
      "text": "Words substituted by Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65), Sch. 27 Pt. II para. 112"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F6",
      "text": "Words in s. 51(5)(a) substituted (S.)(1.4.1996) by 1994 c. 39, s. 180(1), Sch. 13 para. 40(a); S.I. 1996/323, art. 4(1)(c)."
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F7",
      "text": "Words in s. 51(5)(a) inserted (S.)(1.4.1996) by 1994 c. 39, s. 180(1), Sch. 13 para. 40(b); S.I. 1996/323, art. 4(1)(c)."
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F8",
      "text": "S. 51(5)(c) repealed by Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65), Sch. 29"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F9",
      "text": "Words substituted by virtue of S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1964/205, Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973 (c. 36), Sch. 5 para. 8(1), S.I. 1973/2161 (N.I. 24) art. 3, S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1973/504; and 1976/424 (N.I. 6)"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F10",
      "text": "S. 51(6)(aa)(ab) inserted by S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1973/256, art. 3, Sch. 2"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F11",
      "text": "S. 51(6)(b)–(e) repealed by S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1973/256, art. 3, Sch. 2"
    },
    {
      "type": "M",
      "label": "M1",
      "text": "1972 c. 9 (N.I.)"
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "Functions of councils of boroughs or urban districts now exercisable (N.I.) by district councils: S.R. & O. (N.I.) 1973/256"
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C2",
      "text": "S. 51: transfer of functions (1.7.1999) by S.I. 1999/672, art. 2, Sch. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C3",
      "text": "Functions of Minister of Housing and Local Government under this section now exercisable by Secretary of State: S.I. 1965/319, art. 2(1), Sch. 1 Pt. I and 1970/1681, art. 2"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/1-2/36/section/51",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T11:16:39.685380+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}