British Telecommunications Act 1981
| Year | 1981 |
British TelecommunicationsAct 1981
1981 CHAPTER 38
An Act to establish a public corporation to be called British Telecommunications; to make provision with respect to its functions and to transfer to it certain property, rights and liabilities of the Post Office; to make further provision with respect to the Post Office; to provide for dealings by the Treasury in the shares of Cable and Wireless Limited; to amend the Telegraph Acts; and for connected purposes
[27th July 1981]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Part I
and Data Processing ServicesNew Corporation for the Provision of Telecommunication
The Corporation
1 The Corporation.
(1) There shall be established a public corporation to be called British Telecommunications (in this Act referred to as ‘the Corporation’).
(2) The Corporation shall have such powers and duties as are conferred and imposed on it by or by virtue of the following provisions of this Part; so however that, until such day as the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument appoint (in this Act referred to as ‘the appointed day’), the purpose for which the Corporation's powers are exercised shall be restricted to the preparation for the taking over by it of functions theretofore discharged by the Post Office.
(3) The Corporation shall consist of a chairman and of other members, who may be full-time or part time.
(4) The number of the other members of the Corporation shall not exceed twelve nor fall short of—
(a ) three, as regards the period beginning with the day on which this Act is passed and ending with the day immediately preceding the appointed day; and
(b ) six, after the expiration of that period.
(5) The chairman of the Corporation shall be appointed by the Secretary of State, and the other members of the Corporation shall be appointed by the Secretary of State after consultation with the chairman.
(6) Schedule 1 shall have effect as respects the Corporation and the members thereof.
Powers and duties of the Corporation
2 Powers of the Corporation.
(1) The Corporation shall have power—
(a ) to provide telecommunication and data processing services;
(b ) to perform services for the Post Office or any subsidiary of the Post Office;
(c ) 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; and
(d ) to perform services for local authorities or national health service authorities.
(2) The powers conferred on the Corporation by subsection (1) shall include power—
(a ) to construct, manufacture, produce, purchase, take on hire or hire-purchase, install, maintain and repair anything required for the purposes of its business or the business of any of its subsidiaries;
(b ) to construct, manufacture, produce or purchase for supply to the Post Office or any subsidiary of the Post Office anything required for the purposes of the business of the Post Office or the subsidiary and to install, maintain, repair and test for the Post Office or amy subsidiary of the Post Office anything so required;
(c ) to construct, manufacture, produce or purchase for supply to outside persons any articles a function of which necessarily involves the use of telecommunications, and to install, maintain, repair and test for such persons articles of such a kind;
and for the purposes of paragraph (c ) two or more articles constructed, manufactured, produced or purchased for supply as one unit shall be treated as one article.
(3) The Corporation shall have power, for the purpose of securing the effective exercise of any of the powers conferred on it by the foregoing subsections, or in connection with or in consequence of an exercise thereof, to do anything that appears to the Corporation to be requisite, advantageous or convenient for it to do, including in particular (but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing words) power—
(a ) to provide others with the services of persons employed by it for the purpose of undertaking for them tasks of a kind which, in the course of the provision or performance by it of any service falling within subsection (1), are undertaken by persons so employed;
(b ) to provide, for the benefit of others, consultancy and advisory services concerning anything that it does in exercise of its powers or has power to do and facilities for the training of persons for any purpose connected with anything that it so does or has power to do;
(c ) to construct, manufacture, produce or purchase for supply to outside persons any articles of a kind similar to any required as mentioned in subsection (2)(a ) or (b ), and to install, maintain, repair and test for such persons articles of such a kind;
(d ) to enter into and carry out agreements with any person for the carrying on by him, whether as its agent or otherwise, of any of the activities which itself may carry on or for the carrying on jointly by him and it of any of those activities;
(e ) to acquire land which is required by it for, or in connection with, the exercise of its powers or as to which it can reasonably be foreseen that it will be so required;
(f ) to dispose (whether absolutely or for a term of years) of any part of its undertaking or any property which in its opinion is not required by it for or in connection with the exercise of its powers and, in particular, to dispose of an interest in, or right over, any property which, subject to the interest or right, is retained by it;
(g ) for the purposes of its business, to subscribe for or acquire any securities of an incorporated company or other body corporate, to procure its admission to membership of an incorporated company limited by guarantee and not having a share capital, to promote the formation of an incorporated company or participate in the promotion of such a company or to acquire an undertaking or part of an undertaking;
(h ) to give or lend money to, or give a guarantee for the benefit of, any person with whom it has entered into an agreement by virtue of paragraph (d ) for the purpose of enabling him to carry out the agreement and, for the purposes of its business, to give or lend money to, or give a guarantee for the benefit of, any other person for the purposes of an undertaking carried on by him or, where that person is a body corporate, an under-taking carried on by a subsidiary of that person;
(i ) to do anything for the purpose of advancing the skill of persons employed by it or that of persons who, though not so employed, are engaging themselves, or have it in contemplation to engage themselves, in work of a kind in the case of which it has or may have a direct or indirect concern in the products thereof;
(j ) to promote (either by prosecuting it itself or by its promoting it by others) research into matters which affect, or arise out of, the carrying on of its business, or other matters which, though not such as aforesaid, are such as to which it appears to it that advantage will or may accrue to it as a consequence of research's being prosecuted into them;
(k ) to promote the doing of such work as is requisite to enable there to be turned to account—
(i) the results of research (whether promoted by it or not) into matters affecting, or arising out of, the carrying on of its business;
(ii) the results of research promoted by it into other matters;
(l ) to provide assistance (including financial assistance) to, or promote the activities of, any institution or person if, in its opinion, the consequences of doing so will enure for its benefit;
(m ) to provide houses, hostels and other like accommodation for persons engaged in its business;
(n ) to make loans to persons employed by it (including in particular, loans to assist them to acquire housing accommodation) and to guarantee loans made to persons so employed (including, in particular, loans made by building societies and other bodies for housing purposes);
(o ) to promote recreational activities for, and activities conducing to the welfare of, persons who are, or have been, employed by it, have been engaged in the business of the Post Office or have been officers, servants or agents of the Postmaster General and the families of such persons and to assist the promotion by others of such activities;
and may turn its resources to account so far as not required for the purposes of its business.
(4) The Corporation shall have power to furnish any authority or person outside the United Kingdom with assistance (whether financial, technical or of any other nature) if, in its opinion, the consequences of doing so will enure for its benefit.
(5) The Corporation may, with the consent of the Secretary of State, promote, and may, without any such consent, oppose, Bills in Parliament, proposed Measures in the Northern Ireland Assembly and orders under the Private Legislation Procedure (Scotland) Act 1936 .
(6) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that the foregoing provisions of this section relate only to the capacity of the Corporation as a statutory corporation, and nothing in those provisions shall be construed as authorising the disregard by it of any enactment or rule of law.
(7) The provisions of this section shall not be construed as limiting any power of the Corporation conferred by or under any subsequent provision of this Act.
(8) Nothing in this section shall be...
To continue reading
Request your trial