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| Reserves of the Post Office company and its subsidiaries. |
61. - (1) The Secretary of State may, on or after the appointed day, give directions from time to time to the Post Office company-
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(a) requiring it to allocate to a reserve generally, or to a reserve for a particular purpose, or to cause any of its subsidiaries so to allocate to a reserve, either a specified amount or such amount as the Post Office company considers appropriate, |
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(b) requiring it to re-allocate for a specified purpose, or to cause any of its subsidiaries so to re-allocate, the whole or any part of any amount previously allocated by the Post Office company or (as the case may be) subsidiary to a reserve for some other purpose, or |
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(c) with respect to the application by the Post Office company or any of its subsidiaries of amounts allocated to a reserve in accordance with a direction under this section. |
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(2) Directions requiring the allocation of any amount to a reserve may provide for it to be so allocated either at a specified time or during the course of a specified period.
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(3) Directions under subsection (1)(c) may, in particular, require amounts allocated to a reserve in accordance with a direction under this section to be applied as if they were profits available for distribution within the meaning of section 263(1) of the Companies Act 1985 or Article 271(1) of the Companies (Northern Ireland) Order 1986 (distributions to be made out of profits).
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(4) Despite subsection (3), no part of a reserve to which amounts have been allocated in accordance with this section shall count as an undistributable reserve of the company concerned for the purposes of section 264(3)(d) of the Act of 1985 or Article 272(3)(d) of the Order of 1986 (restriction on distribution of assets).
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(5) For the purpose of determining under section 264 of the Act of 1985 or Article 272 of the Order of 1986 whether the company concerned may make a distribution at any time, any amount for the time being standing to the credit of the reserve concerned (excluding any amount which by virtue of subsection (3) above is authorised to be, but has not yet been, applied as if it were profits available for distribution) shall be treated for the purposes of section 264(3)(c) of the Act of 1985 or Article 272(3)(c) of the Order of 1986 as if it were unrealised profits of the company.
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(6) The Secretary of State shall consult the Post Office company before giving a direction under this section.
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(7) No direction shall be given under this section without the consent of the Treasury.
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Dissolution of the Post Office |
| Dissolution of the Post Office. |
62. - (1) The Post Office shall continue in existence after the appointed day until it is dissolved in accordance with this section.
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(2) The Secretary of State may by order, after consulting the Post Office and the Post Office company, dissolve the Post Office on a day specified in the order.
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(3) No order shall be made under subsection (2) unless the Secretary of State is satisfied that nothing further remains to be done by the Post Office under paragraph 5 of Schedule 3.
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Supplementary provisions |
| Accounts of the Secretary of State in relation to loans. |
63. - (1) The Secretary of State shall, in respect of each financial year, prepare in such form and manner as the Treasury may direct, an account of-
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(a) sums issued to him under section 57(6), |
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(b) sums received by him as mentioned in section 57(8), and |
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(c) the disposal by him of the sums mentioned in paragraphs (a) and (b). |
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(2) The Secretary of State shall send the account to the Comptroller and Auditor General not later than the end of the month of November in the following financial year.
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(3) The Comptroller and Auditor General shall-
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(a) examine, certify and report on the account, and |
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(b) lay copies of it, together with his report, before each House of Parliament. |
| Accounts and directors' reports of the Post Office company. |
64. - (1) The Post Office company shall send to the Secretary of State-
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(a) a copy of all annual accounts of the company on which the company's auditors have made a report under section 235 of the Companies Act 1985, and |
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(b) a copy of the auditor's report, |
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as soon as practicable after the report has been made.
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(2) The Post Office company shall send to the Secretary of State a copy of the report prepared by its directors under section 234 of the Companies Act 1985 in relation to any year which includes the appointed day or any subsequent year as soon as practicable after the report has been approved and signed under section 234A of that Act.
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(3) The Secretary of State shall lay a copy of the accounts and reports received by him under this section before each House of Parliament.
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(4) In this section "annual accounts" means annual accounts (within the meaning of the Companies Act 1985) which relate to any year which includes the appointed day or to any subsequent year.
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