(1)Petitions and addresses forwarded to Her Majesty or, in Northern Ireland, to the Secretary of State, by post shall be exempt from postage chargeable by a universal service provider in connection with the provision of a universal postal service.
(2)Petitions and addresses to Her Majesty which are sent by post to a member of either House of Parliament, a member of the Scottish Parliament, a member of the National Assembly for Wales or a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly shall be exempt from postage chargeable by a universal service provider in connection with the provision of a universal postal service if—
(a)the petitions or addresses do not exceed 1 kilogram in weight, and
(b)are sent without covers or in covers open at the sides.
(3)Petitions which are addressed to either House of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales or the Northern Ireland Assembly and are sent by post to a member of either House of Parliament, a member of the Scottish Parliament or the Clerk of the Scottish Parliament, a member of the National Assembly for Wales or (as the case may be) a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly shall be exempt from postage chargeable by a universal service provider in connection with the provision of a universal postal service if—
(a)the petitions do not exceed 1 kilogram in weight, and
(b)are sent without covers or in covers open at the sides.
(4)Subsection (5) applies where the postage chargeable by a universal service provider in connection with the provision of a universal postal service on a postal packet consisting of parliamentary proceedings has not been prepaid by the sender or has been insufficiently prepaid by him.
(5)No sum exceeding the amount of the postage or (as the case may be) the deficiency may be recovered by the universal service provider (whether from the sender or the addressee).
(6)In this section “parliamentary proceedings” means proceedings of either House of Parliament, the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales or the Northern Ireland Assembly.