Post Office Act 1969

Members

2 (1) A member of the Post Office shall hold and vacate his office in accordance with the terms of his appointment and shall, on ceasing to be a member, be eligible for re-appointment.

(2) As soon as possible after appointing a person to be a member of the Post Office, the Minister shall lay before each House of Parliament a statement of the term for which he has been appointed.

(3) A member may at any time by notice in writing to the Minister resign his office.

3 (1) Before appointing a person to be a member of the Post Office the Minister shall satisfy himself that that person will have no such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially the exercise and performance by him of his functions as a member of the Post Office, and the Minister shall also satisfy himself from time to time with respect to every member of the Post Office that he has no such interest; and a person who is, or whom the Minister proposes to appoint to be, a member of the Post Office shall, whenever requested by the Minister so to do, furnish to him such information as the Minister considers necessary for the performance by the Minister of his duties under this paragraph.

(2) A member of the Post Office who is in any way directly or indirectly interested in a contract made or proposed to be made by the Post Office, or in a contract made or proposed to be made by a subsidiary of the Post Office which is brought up for consideration by the Post Office, shall disclose the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Post Office ; and the disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the Post Office, and the member shall not take any part in any deliberation or decision of the Post Office with respect to that contract.

(3) For the purposes of the last foregoing sub-paragraph, a general notice given at a meeting of the Post Office by a member thereof to the effect that he is a member of a specified company or firm and is to be regarded as interested in any contract which may, after the date of the notice, be made with the company or firm, shall be regarded as a sufficient disclosure of his interest in relation to any contract so made or proposed to be so made.

(4) A member of the Post Office need not attend in person at a meeting of the Post Office in order to make a disclosure which he is required to make under this paragraph if he takes reasonable steps to secure that the disclosure is made by a notice which is brought up and read at the meeting.

4 (1) The Post Office—

(a) shall pay to the members thereof such salaries or fees, and such allowances, as the Minister may determine ; and

(b) as regards any member in whose case the Minister may so determine, shall pay such pension, allowance or gratuity to or in respect of him or make such payments towards the provision of such a pension, allowance or gratuity as may be so determined ;

and, if a person ceases to be a member of the Post Office and it appears to the Minister that there are special circumstances which make it right that that person should receive compensation, the Minister may require the Post Office to pay to that person a sum of such amount as the Minister may determine.

(2) The Minister shall, as soon as possible after the first appointment of a person as a member of the Post Office, lay before each House of Parliament a statement of the salary or fees and of the allowances that are or will be payable under this paragraph to him ; and if a subsequent determination by him under this paragraph involves a departure from the terms of that statement, or if a determination by him under this paragraph relates to the payment of, or to payment towards the provision of, a pension, allowance or gratuity to, or in respect of, a member of the Post Office, the Minister shall, as soon as possible after the determination, lay a statement thereof before each House of Parliament.

(3) The approval of the Minister for the Civil Service shall be requisite to a determination under this paragraph by the Minister and to the imposition thereunder by him of a requirement.

5 (1) If the Minister is satisfied that a member of the Post Office—

(a) has been absent from meetings of the Post Office for a period longer than three consecutive months without the permission of the Post Office ; or

(b) has become bankrupt or made an arrangement with his creditors; or

(c) is incapacitated by physical or mental illness ; or

(d) is otherwise unable or unfit to discharge the functions of a member;

the Minister may declare his office as a member of the Post Office to be vacant, and shall notify the fact in such manner as the Minister thinks fit; and thereupon the office shall become vacant.

(2) In the application of this paragraph to Scotland, for the references in head (b) of sub-paragraph (1) to a member's having become bankrupt and to a member's having made an arrangement with his creditors there shall be substituted respectively references to sequestration of a member's estate having been awarded and to a member's having made a trust deed for behoof of his creditors or a composition contract.

6 Part II of Schedule 1 to the [1957 c. 20.] House of Commons Disqualification Act 1957 (which specifies certain commissions, tribunals and other bodies all members of which are disqualified under that Act) shall, in its application to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, be amended by inserting, at the appropriate point in alphabetical order, the words " The Post Office ".