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1278737

registered interest
date	20/01/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what progress he has made with National Trading Standards on supplying call blocking devices to vulnerable people.
tabling member constituency	Bosworth
tabling member printed	Dr Luke Evans
uin	140950
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2021 answer text <p>DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from unsolicited calls including those originating from overseas. The devices have proven to be very effective, blocking 99% of scam and nuisance calls to date.</p><p>The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. Both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have responsibility to reduce the levels of nuisance calls, with the ICO being responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at <a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 140951 140952 140953 question first answered 28/01/2021 15:50:49 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4781 label Biography information for Dr Luke Evans

1278741

registered interest
date	20/01/2021
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of introducing director liability for nuisance calls.
tabling member constituency	Bosworth
tabling member printed	Dr Luke Evans
uin	140952
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/01/2021 answer text <p>DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from unsolicited calls including those originating from overseas. The devices have proven to be very effective, blocking 99% of scam and nuisance calls to date.</p><p>The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. Both the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and the Office of Communications (Ofcom) have responsibility to reduce the levels of nuisance calls, with the ICO being responsible for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at <a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a>.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale grouped question UIN 140950 140951 140953 question first answered 28/01/2021 15:50:49 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4781 label Biography information for Dr Luke Evans

1258696

registered interest
date	07/12/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to protect vulnerable people from fraudulent cold calling.
tabling member constituency	Bristol North West
tabling member printed	Darren Jones
uin	126109
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/12/2020 answer text <p>Fraudulent calls can have significant and devastating impacts on people’s lives, particularly the most vulnerable in society. As well as being a nuisance, cold calling is the most common method used to initiate fraud, especially relating to pensions. That’s why the government has taken action to ban pension cold calling.</p><p>HM Treasury has introduced a ban on pension cold calling in order to reduce the chance of individual’s being enticed into fraudulent schemes.</p><p>Further to this, Home Office has collaborated with UK Finance to run the Take Five fraud awareness campaign. The campaign is designed to equip the public to challenge fraudulent approaches with confidence – be they face-to-face, on the telephone or online.</p><p>The Government continues to work on practical solutions to address nuisance and scam calls. DCMS have provided over £1 million in the last 3 years to the National Trading Standards for distribution of call blocking devices to vulnerable people. This funding helped to protect some of the most vulnerable in society from nuisance calls and scams, including those originating from overseas.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale question first answered 15/12/2020 15:58:26 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	4621 label Biography information for Darren Jones

1200328

registered interest
date	03/06/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	Her Majesty's Government when they last reviewed the regulation of cold calling, taking into account (1) the Consumer Rights Act 2015, (2) the powers of the Office of Information Commissioner, (3) the role of the Financial Conduct Authority, and (4) any other legislation.
tabling member printed	Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town
uin	HL5192
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2020 answer text <p>Government recognises that, for many, nuisance calls are at best a source of irritation, but for the most vulnerable they can be particularly stressful and damaging. We have been clear that there is no place for nuisance calls in our society and have taken a number of proactive actions in an attempt to resolve the problem.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) governs unsolicited live or automated direct marketing calls, unsolicited direct marketing emails and SMS text messages. The Information Commissioner is the UK's independent regulator for data protection. DCMS is the sponsoring government department of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). As part of fulfilling its sponsorship role, DCMS continues to work with the ICO to ensure the UK implements its high standards of data protection effectively.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The introduction of the GDPR provided strict guidelines which strengthened the definition of consent for direct marketing. Further to this, we reviewed PECR in January 2019 where we introduced a ban on cold calling relating to pensions. The ban prohibited the selling of pension services by pension providers unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In addition, the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 created a private right of redress for consumers who have entered into a contract as a result of misleading actions or aggressive practices as defined in the Regulations. Under these provisions, the consumer has the right to take civil action in the courts to have the contract unwind (so they are put back in the position they were in before the contract was made) and to receive a refund and to seek compensation for damages for any additional losses or harm suffered as a result of the trader’s actions”.</p><p> </p> answering member printed Baroness Barran question first answered 15/06/2020 12:59:46 answering member 4703 label Biography information for Baroness Barran
tabling member	4159 label Biography information for Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town

1181303

registered interest
date	27/02/2020
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to prevent nuisance telephone callers making unwanted calls after a telephone number is registered with the Telephone Preference Service.
tabling member constituency	Birmingham, Selly Oak
tabling member printed	Steve McCabe
uin	21879
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2020 answer text <p>The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) impose strict obligations on organisations that make direct marketing calls to individuals in the UK. Organisations must not call a number that has been registered on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) list. For calls relating to pensions and personal injury claims, calls must not be made at all unless the consumer has provided his or her consent.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Information Commissioner is responsible for enforcing PECR and publishes details of the actions it has taken for breaches of the legislation on its website:</p><p><a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>We are committed to reducing the level of nuisance calls and continue to work with industry and regulators to identify further steps to tackle the problem. For example, we have been working with National Trading Standards to supply call blocking devices to some of the most vulnerable in society.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Maldon answering member printed Mr John Whittingdale question first answered 03/03/2020 12:28:45 answering member 39 label Biography information for Sir John Whittingdale
tabling member	298 label Biography information for Steve McCabe

1145627

registered interest
date	24/09/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of nuisance calls to UK numbers.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	290311
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2019 answer text <p>The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) takes the lead in tackling unsolicited live direct marketing calls and automated marketing message calls through its responsibility for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at <a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a>.</p><p>The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the regulator for telecommunications services in the UK and, in respect of nuisance calls, its focus is primarily on abandoned and silent calls. Ofcom will be releasing its most recent statistics following its nuisance calls consumer survey later this month. Information on this is available on its website at <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home" target="_blank">ofcom.org.uk</a></p><p>The Government has been clear that there is no place for nuisance calls in our society and we continue to work with regulators and industry on practical solutions to this problem. The Government has taken a range of recent actions to reduce the number of nuisance calls. The Government has banned cold calls from personal injury firms and pensions providers unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted. The Government has also introduced director liability for nuisance calls, meaning that the ICO can impose a fine of up to £500,00 on a company, its directors, or both where it establishes a breach has occurred (previously, only the company could be fined). This measure has enhanced the ICO’s regulatory effectiveness by raising the issue of unsolicited marketing at board level. The Government is also funding National Trading Standards to install call blocking devices in the homes of vulnerable people.</p><p>The ICO has a dedicated team to investigate organisations making nuisance calls and take action when evidence supports enforcement action. The ICO has a joint action plan with Ofcom for tackling nuisance calls. The ICO also works closely with the Ministry of Justice’s Claims Management Regulation Unit and the National Crime Agency to share intelligence and deter and penalize organisations and individuals responsible for the harm caused by nuisance calls. The ICO works with the Insolvency Service to ensure as much of the monetary penalties issued to those that are in breach of the rules is recovered.</p><p>The ICO has arrangements with other countries to share information and intelligence about organisations potentially contravening UK law, including the PECR. It makes referrals to those countries where it identifies organisations making unlawful calls to UK subscribers, and has a number of such investigations ongoing at the present time. The ICO will continue to work with its counterparts including in countries where large numbers of nuisance calls are being made to the UK, in order to identify the offenders and solutions to the problem.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 290312 290313 290314 question first answered 01/10/2019 13:12:04 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1145628

registered interest
date	24/09/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the level of nuisance calls.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	290312
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2019 answer text <p>The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) takes the lead in tackling unsolicited live direct marketing calls and automated marketing message calls through its responsibility for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at <a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a>.</p><p>The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the regulator for telecommunications services in the UK and, in respect of nuisance calls, its focus is primarily on abandoned and silent calls. Ofcom will be releasing its most recent statistics following its nuisance calls consumer survey later this month. Information on this is available on its website at <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home" target="_blank">ofcom.org.uk</a></p><p>The Government has been clear that there is no place for nuisance calls in our society and we continue to work with regulators and industry on practical solutions to this problem. The Government has taken a range of recent actions to reduce the number of nuisance calls. The Government has banned cold calls from personal injury firms and pensions providers unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted. The Government has also introduced director liability for nuisance calls, meaning that the ICO can impose a fine of up to £500,00 on a company, its directors, or both where it establishes a breach has occurred (previously, only the company could be fined). This measure has enhanced the ICO’s regulatory effectiveness by raising the issue of unsolicited marketing at board level. The Government is also funding National Trading Standards to install call blocking devices in the homes of vulnerable people.</p><p>The ICO has a dedicated team to investigate organisations making nuisance calls and take action when evidence supports enforcement action. The ICO has a joint action plan with Ofcom for tackling nuisance calls. The ICO also works closely with the Ministry of Justice’s Claims Management Regulation Unit and the National Crime Agency to share intelligence and deter and penalize organisations and individuals responsible for the harm caused by nuisance calls. The ICO works with the Insolvency Service to ensure as much of the monetary penalties issued to those that are in breach of the rules is recovered.</p><p>The ICO has arrangements with other countries to share information and intelligence about organisations potentially contravening UK law, including the PECR. It makes referrals to those countries where it identifies organisations making unlawful calls to UK subscribers, and has a number of such investigations ongoing at the present time. The ICO will continue to work with its counterparts including in countries where large numbers of nuisance calls are being made to the UK, in order to identify the offenders and solutions to the problem.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 290311 290313 290314 question first answered 01/10/2019 13:12:04 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1145629

registered interest
date	24/09/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what proactive investigative capacity exists to support enforcement of laws against nuisance calling and associated business practices.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	290313
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2019 answer text <p>The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) takes the lead in tackling unsolicited live direct marketing calls and automated marketing message calls through its responsibility for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at <a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a>.</p><p>The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the regulator for telecommunications services in the UK and, in respect of nuisance calls, its focus is primarily on abandoned and silent calls. Ofcom will be releasing its most recent statistics following its nuisance calls consumer survey later this month. Information on this is available on its website at <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home" target="_blank">ofcom.org.uk</a></p><p>The Government has been clear that there is no place for nuisance calls in our society and we continue to work with regulators and industry on practical solutions to this problem. The Government has taken a range of recent actions to reduce the number of nuisance calls. The Government has banned cold calls from personal injury firms and pensions providers unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted. The Government has also introduced director liability for nuisance calls, meaning that the ICO can impose a fine of up to £500,00 on a company, its directors, or both where it establishes a breach has occurred (previously, only the company could be fined). This measure has enhanced the ICO’s regulatory effectiveness by raising the issue of unsolicited marketing at board level. The Government is also funding National Trading Standards to install call blocking devices in the homes of vulnerable people.</p><p>The ICO has a dedicated team to investigate organisations making nuisance calls and take action when evidence supports enforcement action. The ICO has a joint action plan with Ofcom for tackling nuisance calls. The ICO also works closely with the Ministry of Justice’s Claims Management Regulation Unit and the National Crime Agency to share intelligence and deter and penalize organisations and individuals responsible for the harm caused by nuisance calls. The ICO works with the Insolvency Service to ensure as much of the monetary penalties issued to those that are in breach of the rules is recovered.</p><p>The ICO has arrangements with other countries to share information and intelligence about organisations potentially contravening UK law, including the PECR. It makes referrals to those countries where it identifies organisations making unlawful calls to UK subscribers, and has a number of such investigations ongoing at the present time. The ICO will continue to work with its counterparts including in countries where large numbers of nuisance calls are being made to the UK, in order to identify the offenders and solutions to the problem.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 290311 290312 290314 question first answered 01/10/2019 13:12:04 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1145631

registered interest
date	24/09/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if her Department will take steps to (a) identify countries that are hotspots of illegal nuisance calling to the UK and associated business activity and (b) improve collaboration with regulators and other investigative and enforcement authorities in those countries.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	290314
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/10/2019 answer text <p>The level of nuisance calls made to UK numbers is monitored by independent bodies. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) takes the lead in tackling unsolicited live direct marketing calls and automated marketing message calls through its responsibility for enforcing the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Further information about the level of nuisance calls and enforcement action taken by the ICO is available on the ICO’s website at <a href="https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/" target="_blank">https://ico.org.uk/action-weve-taken/nuisance-calls-and-messages/</a>.</p><p>The Office of Communications (Ofcom) is the regulator for telecommunications services in the UK and, in respect of nuisance calls, its focus is primarily on abandoned and silent calls. Ofcom will be releasing its most recent statistics following its nuisance calls consumer survey later this month. Information on this is available on its website at <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home" target="_blank">ofcom.org.uk</a></p><p>The Government has been clear that there is no place for nuisance calls in our society and we continue to work with regulators and industry on practical solutions to this problem. The Government has taken a range of recent actions to reduce the number of nuisance calls. The Government has banned cold calls from personal injury firms and pensions providers unless the consumer has explicitly agreed to be contacted. The Government has also introduced director liability for nuisance calls, meaning that the ICO can impose a fine of up to £500,00 on a company, its directors, or both where it establishes a breach has occurred (previously, only the company could be fined). This measure has enhanced the ICO’s regulatory effectiveness by raising the issue of unsolicited marketing at board level. The Government is also funding National Trading Standards to install call blocking devices in the homes of vulnerable people.</p><p>The ICO has a dedicated team to investigate organisations making nuisance calls and take action when evidence supports enforcement action. The ICO has a joint action plan with Ofcom for tackling nuisance calls. The ICO also works closely with the Ministry of Justice’s Claims Management Regulation Unit and the National Crime Agency to share intelligence and deter and penalize organisations and individuals responsible for the harm caused by nuisance calls. The ICO works with the Insolvency Service to ensure as much of the monetary penalties issued to those that are in breach of the rules is recovered.</p><p>The ICO has arrangements with other countries to share information and intelligence about organisations potentially contravening UK law, including the PECR. It makes referrals to those countries where it identifies organisations making unlawful calls to UK subscribers, and has a number of such investigations ongoing at the present time. The ICO will continue to work with its counterparts including in countries where large numbers of nuisance calls are being made to the UK, in order to identify the offenders and solutions to the problem.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Boston and Skegness answering member printed Matt Warman grouped question UIN 290311 290312 290313 question first answered 01/10/2019 13:12:05 answering member 4361 label Biography information for Matt Warman
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown

1143812

registered interest
date	02/09/2019
answering body	Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept id	10
answering dept short name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
answering dept sort name	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
hansard heading	Nuisance Calls
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of nuisance calls to UK numbers.
tabling member constituency	West Ham
tabling member printed	Lyn Brown
uin	285240
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/09/2019 answer text <p>It has not proved possible to respond to the hon. Member in the time available before Prorogation.</p> answering member constituency Selby and Ainsty answering member printed Nigel Adams question first answered 09/09/2019 15:39:27 answering member 4057 label Biography information for Nigel Adams
tabling member	1583 label Biography information for Ms Lyn Brown